NASA’s InSight mission has come to an end after more than four years of collecting unique scientific research on Mars. Mission controllers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California were unable to communicate with the lander after two consecutive attempts, which led them to conclude that the spacecraft’s solar panels had run out of power—what state engineers called the “dead bus.”

Previously, NASA had decided to declare the mission complete if the lander missed two communications attempts. The agency will continue to listen for a signal from the lander just in case, but this is considered unlikely to be heard at this time. InSight last contacted Earth on December 15.

“I’ve watched the launch and landing of this mission, and while it’s always sad to say goodbye to a spacecraft, the exciting science that InSight has accomplished is cause for celebration,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, deputy director of NASA’s Science Mission Office in Washington. “Seismic data alone from this Exploration Program mission provides remarkable insight into not only Mars but also other rocky bodies, including Earth.”

InSight, short for Inner Exploration Using Seismic Surveys, Geodesy, and Heat Transport, decided to explore the deep interior of Mars. The lander’s data provided details about the interior of Mars, the surprisingly powerful remnants beneath the surface of the extinct magnetic dynamo, the weather in this part of Mars, and the abundance of earthquakes.

Its high-precision seismometer detected 1,319 earthquakes, including earthquakes caused by meteorite impacts, alongside daily monitoring by the French space agency Center National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and the Marsquake Service, led by ETH Zurich. excavated rock. – the size of the ice chips at the end of last year.

Such effects help scientists determine the age of the planet’s surface, and seismometer data gives scientists the opportunity to study the planet’s crust, mantle, and core.

“With InSight, seismology has been the focus of a mission beyond Earth for the first time since the Apollo missions, when astronauts brought seismometers to the Moon,” said Philippe Lignonne of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, principal investigator of the Insight seismometer. . “We broke new ground and our science team can be proud of everything we’ve learned along the way.”

The seismometer was the last science instrument to remain powered as dust accumulated in the lander’s solar cells slowly depleted its power, a process that began before NASA resumed the mission earlier this year.

“InSight has more than lived up to its name. As a career scientist dedicated to the exploration of Mars, it’s great to see what the lander has accomplished thanks to all the teams around the world who helped make this mission a success,” he said. JPL, which manages the mission. “Yes, it’s sad to say goodbye, but InSight’s legacy will live on as informative and inspiring.”

All Mars missions encounter challenges, and InSight is no different. The lander had a self-driving spike, nicknamed the “mole,” that descended 16 feet (5 meters) that followed a sensor-equipped cable to measure the planet’s temperature, allowing scientists to calculate how much energy was left from Mars. formation.

Designed for the loose, sandy soil seen in other missions, the mole failed to provide traction in the unexpectedly lumpy soil around InSight. The instrument, supplied by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), eventually buried its 16-inch (40-centimeter) probe just below the surface, collecting valuable data on the physical and thermal properties of Martian soil. This is useful for human or robotic missions that will attempt to dig underground in the future.

The mission buried the mole as much as possible, thanks to engineers at JPL and DLR who used the robotic arm of the lander in creative ways. Designed primarily for placing scientific instruments on the Martian surface, its arm and small bucket also helped clear dust from InSight’s solar panels as power began to wane. Counterintuitively, the mission determined that on windy days they could scatter the dirt onto the panels with a scoop and let the falling pellets gently sweep the dust off the panels.

“We’ve seen InSight as our friend and colleague on Mars for the past four years, so it’s hard to say goodbye,” said Bruce Banerdt of JPL, the mission’s principal investigator. “But he earned his well-deserved retirement.”