[Reading Science] Mars 'Jijeolhakja' Finally Passes Away

Insightho, No Contact Since Last Communication on the 15th
US NASA "No Longer Expecting"
Perseverance Completes Surface Drop of Capsule Containing Soil Samples

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The "geologist" of Mars has finally ended its activity and entered a long rest. Another Mars rover has completed the task of collecting soil samples to uncover the secrets of ancient life and depositing them on the surface.

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on the 21st (local time) that the Mars geological exploration lander InSight has completed its mission after more than four years and entered a permanent dormant state. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which has been operating InSight, the JPL team communicated with InSight on the 15th but recently failed to exchange signals twice in a row. InSight, which landed on the Elysium Planitia near the Martian equator on November 26, 2018, unlike other rovers, is fixed in one place without wheels. Its only power source, solar panels, became covered with thick dust, gradually reducing power generation and causing operational difficulties. NASA plans to continue attempts to communicate with InSight for the time being but has practically given up hope.

Bruce Banerdt, the lead investigator of the JPL InSight operations team, said, "We were able to accomplish far more than we promised through InSight," adding, "I think it was a successful mission."

InSight was launched in May 2018, traveled for six months, and landed on November 26, performing its mission for about four years. Built at a cost of $814 million, InSight, nicknamed the "geologist of Mars," had the primary mission of examining Mars' internal structure through seismic wave observation. However, the surface exploration drill, which was initially intended to penetrate more than 5 meters, failed to work properly and only managed to drill about 6 cm, causing difficulties in mission execution. This was a critical setback for the mission to measure heat flow, composition, and crust thickness beneath the Martian surface. The JPL team eventually stopped further drilling in January last year and has since performed only feasible tasks such as seismic wave observation.

The seismometer installed on InSight detected over 1,300 "marsquakes" during its four-year operation, and in May, it captured the largest marsquake ever recorded with a magnitude of 5. Notably, on December 24 last year, InSight played a decisive role in capturing the scene when a large meteorite struck Mars, creating an impact crater and causing underground ice to erupt. NASA measured seismic waves through InSight, estimated the location, and confirmed the crater with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) camera. A meteorite about 5 to 10 meters in size crashed into the Amazonis Planitia near the equator, about 3,500 km from InSight, forming an approximately 150-meter-wide crater. Particularly, large ice chunks beneath the Martian surface were observed to have been ejected around the crater. This was the first time ice chunks were found near the equator, not the polar regions, marking a milestone for future human Mars landing explorations.

Data collected by InSight also revealed that the Martian crust near the landing site consists of two distinct layers. The upper layer is about 6 km thick, and the lower layer about 40 km thick, intersecting and colliding with each other. It was also confirmed that Mars' core is much larger than scientists had expected and is composed of a light material containing about 15-20% sulfur.

Meanwhile, another rover, Perseverance, recently carried out the task of depositing capsules containing soil samples collected from Mars at specific points on the surface. Ten titanium containers held sand, soil, and rock fragments collected from the Jezero Crater ancient delta region on Mars. After collecting soil samples, Perseverance divided them into two containers, storing one internally and separately depositing the other at a specific location on Mars' surface. These samples will be retrieved and brought back to Earth through a future sample return mission. NASA plans to verify the existence of ancient life through these Martian soil samples.

Currently, the European Space Agency (ESA) and others are developing a rover to replace InSight and planning a Mars sample return project, but due to budget and technological development obstacles, it is expected to be realized around 2030.