NASA Officially Retires InSight Mission After Sharing World's Most Depressing Tweet

Days after sharing the presumed final image from the InSight rover in heartbreaking fashion, NASA has officially retired the Mars mission. Monday, the space agency shared the news the InSight rover was rapidly losing power, saying it would end the mission if it was unable to communicate with the rover on two consecutive attempts. Wednesday, NASA officials announced the mission failed to contact the rover again, automatically triggering the closure of the mission.

"I watched the launch and landing of this mission, and while saying goodbye to a spacecraft is always sad, the fascinating science InSight conducted is cause for celebration," NASA associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said in a NASA blog post. "The seismic data alone from this Discovery Program mission offers tremendous insights not just into Mars but other rocky bodies, including Earth."

The InSight mission officially kicked off in 2018 and was built to analyze the interior of Mars with is seismometer. In total, InSight monitored 1,319 marsquakes during its time on the planet.

"With InSight, seismology was the focus of a mission beyond Earth for the first time since the Apollo missions, when astronauts brought seismometers to the Moon," InSight seismometer principal investigator Philippe Lognonné of Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris added. "We broke new ground, and our science team can be proud of all that we've learned along the way."

"InSight has more than lived up to its name. As a scientist who's spent a career studying Mars, it's been a thrill to see what the lander has achieved, thanks to an entire team of people across the globe who helped make this mission a success," concluded NASA JPL director Laurie Leshin. "Yes, it's sad to say goodbye, but InSight's legacy will live on, informing and inspiring."

What other missions is NASA operating on Mars?

There are a number of studies happening on the Red Planet at any given time. Though InSight may be done, NASA is still operating the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. Curiosity has been operating on the planet for 10 years while Perseverance landed on the surface last year. It's expected Curiosity should last at least five more years using its nuclear energy while Perseverance still has an estimated decade left on its lifespan.

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