InSight

The InSight mission was a robotic lander sent to Mars to study its deep interior. Launched in 2018, it successfully landed on Mars and operated for about four years.

InSight's main goals were to use a seismometer (SEIS) to measure marsquakes and create 3D models of Mars' interior, and to measure heat transfer using a heat probe (HP3) to understand Mars' early geological evolution. This would help scientists understand how terrestrial planets, including Earth, and the Moon formed.

The InSight lander under construction before the launch

The mission was initially planned for 2016, but a problem with the SEIS instrument delayed the launch to 2018. This also increased the mission's cost.

InSight landed successfully in 2018. However, dust accumulation on its solar panels eventually hampered its ability to generate power. Despite efforts to clean the panels, power production declined. In 2022, NASA put InSight into a low-power state and eventually lost communication with the lander in December of that year, ending the mission.

Despite the power issues, InSight achieved many of its objectives. It detected numerous marsquakes, providing valuable data about the planet's internal structure. While the heat probe struggled to reach its intended depth, some heat flow data was still gathered. The information collected by InSight has significantly improved our understanding of Mars' formation and its current geological activity. Although the mission ended earlier than some hoped, it was considered a success.