We can say that something similar to the relationship that was established between the veteran and beloved Hubble with the new and fascinating James Webb happened with Mars InSight, with Mars Perseverance. With a very important difference, yes, because Hubble has enjoyed huge street-level popularity for many years, while InSight, while a key mission in Mars exploration, has never enjoyed such popularity.

And what exactly do I mean by that? Once the seconds of each example are operational, despite the fact that the first ones continue to work, a certain cloak of invisibility seems to fall over them. The new toy syndrome and its ability to grab almost all the attention has made InSight “disappear” to the point that we can even find people thinking that this mission is over, when in fact it is still working.

Recall that InSight, which left Earth in May 2018 and reached the surface of the red planet at the end of November of the same year, aims to study the interior of Mars. So unlike other missions, in this case we’re not talking about a rover, InSight is a fixed station that, thanks to its sensors, was able to perform a large number of measurements in addition to visiting (and reporting) events. on the planet such as its earthquakes. We are therefore talking about one of NASA’s most ambitious missions in terms of its ability to provide information about the red planet and its evolution over time.

My energy is really low so this might be the last picture I can post. Don’t worry about me though: my time here has been productive and peaceful. If I can continue to talk to my mission team, I will – but I’ll be signing off here soon. Thank you for sticking with me. pic.twitter.com/wkYKww15kQ

—NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) December 19, 2022

However, the mission is coming to an end as we have learned your Twitter account. We are approaching the final communication between InSight and Earth, as the lab will soon run out of electricity to keep it running. At that time, it will become another monument on the surface of Mars, more precisely on Elysium Planitia, to the achievements of space exploration and research.

The lander’s ability to harvest solar energy has been affected by the gradual accumulation of dust on the InSight lander’s two solar arrays. This reduced its payload until it reached the current point, which the space agency already expected the lab would end up shutting down.

The text of the tweet certainly leaves a trace of sadness, as it is a full-fledged farewell:

«My energy level is really low so this might be the last picture I can post. But don’t worry about me: my time here has been productive and peaceful. If I can continue to talk to my mission team I will, but I will close here soon. Thanks for sticking with me.»