NASA’s InSight lander was a very different mission from the space agency’s famous wheeled Mars rovers. It plunked down in the Elysium Planitia region in 2018 and stayed in one spot to study the interior of the red planet. Dust on its solar panels contributed to the lander’s demise in late 2022. InSight’s mission may be over, but it’s still contributing to Mars science thanks to images tracking dust movement around the lander over time.
InSight isn’t sending back data or imagery, but NASA has eyes in the sky at Mars. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been monitoring the lander since it arrived. The spacecraft has witnessed the changes in InSight’s surroundings since 2018. MRO captured a “farewell” view of InSight in October that shows the lander covered in a layer of dust matching the landscape around it.
InSight was last in touch with home in December 2022. NASA has continued to listen for the lander just in case its solar panels clear enough to bring it back to life. That last bit of hope will be extinguished at the end of this year when engineers will no longer monitor for radio signals from InSight. That’s what makes MRO’s October image a poignant final “farewell” to the mission.
Scientists can look back over years of MRO observations of InSight. When it first landed, it appeared as a bright speck in a dark spot when seen from orbit. In 2024, it looks like it’s been camouflaged. “By monitoring how much dust collects on the surface—and how much gets vacuumed away by wind and dust devils—we learn more about the wind, dust cycle and other processes that shape the planet,” said Ingrid Daubar, a science team member with Brown University in Rhode Island, in a NASA statement on Dec. 16.
A timelapse video NASA shared on social media follows InSight from 2018 through 2024. Annotations highlight dust devil tracks that look like dark lines across the ground.
InSight spent time during its mission studying the Mars wind. Researchers matched that data with observations from orbit and found dust devils were more active during the Martian summer. The MRO images also show how the dark blast marks left by InSight’s landing system were covered in dust over time. Scientists are using robotic explorers on Mars to understand how dust and wind might impact future human missions to the planet’s surface.
InSight’s lifespan was short compared to some of NASA’s longer-lived Mars missions like the Curiosity rover, which has been roaming the planet for over 12 years. The lander, however, made some big contributions to Mars science, including the detection of marsquakes, the Mars equivalent of an earthquake. It added to our understanding of water on Mars and collected data on the planet’s interior makeup. “It feels a little bittersweet to look at InSight now. It was a successful mission that produced lots of great science,” said Daubar. “Of course, it would have been nice if it kept going forever, but we knew that wouldn’t happen.”
Barring a miracle in the next few days, InSight’s memorable mission is well and truly over. It will remain at its resting place, gathering dust and melding into the Mars landscape.
