The InSight lander, which has been sitting on the surface of Mars since 2018, will run out of power and cease operations in four to eight weeks, according to NASA. This announcement came on the same day that researchers released information on a significant meteorite strike that gouged boulder-sized chunks of ice surprisingly close to the planet’s equator.
InSight mission principle investigator, planetary geophysicist Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, stated in a briefing that dust has been building up on solar panels that draw electricity for the US space agency’s stationary lander and has been draining its batteries.The two-year mission of InSight, which has contributed to understanding Mars’ underlying structure and seismic activity, was eventually extended to four years.
