NASA says Mars InSight lander digger ‘mole’ is dead

Here at all the brave machines that mingled with Mars and ultimately lost. Goodbye, Opportunity. Godspeed, Beagle 2. We barely knew you, Schiaparelli. And now we have to say goodbye to the “mole” part of NASA’s InSight landing mission.

The lander itself is fine and healthy and still studying earthquake, but the mole’s efforts to dig the Red Planet were hampered every step of the way. On Thursday, NASA announced the end of the mole’s journey.

The mole is the digging part of the lander’s heat flow and physical properties pack (HP3), an instrument designed to dig deep and take the internal temperature of Mars, much like a doctor performing an exam. Mars was not a willing patient.

InSight landed in late 2018 and we’ve been following the testing and struggles of the mole since its deployment in early 2019. The mole – which was built by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) – has behaved like a small pile driver who uses a hammering motion to descend. But Mars didn’t have it. the mole kept backing out of his hole instead of digging.

“We’ve given it our all, but Mars and our heroic mole remain incompatible,” said HP3 principal investigator Tilman Spohn of DLR. “Fortunately, we’ve learned a lot that will benefit future missions that attempt to dig the basement.”

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NASA and DLR have tried all kinds of tricks, from squeezing the mole with InSight’s arm to scavenging dirt on it. The mole team made a final attempt to gain traction last weekend, but the unexpected properties of the soil in InSight’s landing zone once again proved too heavy for it. The lumpy texture of the soil meant the mole couldn’t have enough friction to dig.

Now is the time to salute the mole, his team and the ingenuity put into the mission. Scientists have discovered the ground in this region of Mars and have developed sophisticated new ways to use InSight’s robotic arm. This knowledge will feed into future Mars exploration missions.

This week has been bittersweet for NASA and the Mars InSight lander team. But the good news is NASA officially extended InSight’s science mission until December 2022. The mole is dead. Long live InSight.

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