End of mission for the InSight probe on the planet Mars
The InSight probe on Mars.
Photo published on December 19, 2022 by NASA.
© AP / Nasa
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NASA announced it on Wednesday 21: the InSight probe has been retired after four years of activity on Mars.
The machine landed there in 2018 to conduct an unprecedented study on the planet using seismology.
If the mission ends here, the data collected promises to occupy scientists for many years.
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After four years of work, the end clap for the InSight probe, sent to Mars in 2018.
NASA said on Wednesday December 21 that it had lost contact with its spacecraft, which was literally probing the red planet to reveal all its secrets.
This end of mission is not a surprise, NASA expected it and had anticipated from the start that after a certain time, the probe would have very little energy remaining due to the dust. Mars accumulated on its solar panels.
The last signal received from InSight dates back to December 15
Discover the secrets of Mars
"
If saying goodbye to a spacecraft is always sad, the fascinating scientific work conducted by InSight is a reason to rejoice
," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator at NASA, in a press release.
What is the interior of Mars made of?
Do the differences with Earth explain the opposite destiny of the two planets?
Because yet neighbors, one is full of life, while the other is a desert and cold world... These are the questions that InSight has tried to answer, thanks to its French seismometer.
The planet is gradually falling asleep.
Mars is less and less active, but it remains very hot inside.
The rule that seems to emerge in the solar system is that all the planets have only one plate.
None other than the Earth has plate tectonics.
Philippe Lognonné, from Paris Cité University, on the results obtained with InSight
Simon Roze
And over “
1,300 Marsquakes
” recorded later, some of them caused by meteor impacts, that's a big hit.
So much so that the mission lasted two years longer than expected.
Among the finds on the red planet, the scientists were notably able to confirm that its core was indeed liquid, and to determine the thickness of the Martian crust, less dense than previously envisaged.
One thing is certain: this Martian seismometer will be emulated.
It is soon planned to send one to the Moon, then another to Titan, one of Saturn's moons.
(
And with
AFP)
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