The mission team for NASA’s InSight lander called off its attempts to try to dig deeper into Mars with the heat probe known as “the mole.” Meanwhile, the rest of the mission gained an extension to December 2022. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-calls-halt-to-attempts-by-insight-mole-to-dig-into-mars…
Tag: heat probe
After 2 Years on Mars, NASA’s Digger Declared Dead
“NASA declared the Mars digger dead Thursday after failing to burrow deep into the red planet to take its temperature,” reports the Associated Press: Scientists in Germany spent two years trying to get their heat probe, dubbed the mole, to drill into the Martian crust. But the 16-inch-long (40-centimeter) device that is part of NASA’s InSight lander couldn’t gain enough friction…
NASA InSight’s ‘Mole’ is out of sight
NASA’s InSight lander continues working to get its “mole”—a 16-inch-long (40-centimeter-long) pile driver and heat probe—deep below the surface of Mars. A camera on InSight’s arm recently took images of the now partially filled-in “mole hole,” showing only the device’s science tether protruding from the ground. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-nasa-insight-mole-sight.html…
NASA’s InSight flexes its arm while its ‘mole’ hits pause
NASA’s InSight lander has been using its robotic arm to help the heat probe known as the “mole” burrow into Mars. The mission is providing the first look at the Red Planet’s deep interior to reveal details about the formation of Mars and, ultimately, all rocky planets, including Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-nasa-insight-flexes-arm-mole.html…
Marsquakes: InSight lander shows active faults in planet’s crust
The results from its NASA’s Mars InSight lander’s first 10 months on the martian surface have been published in a series of papers. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-quakes-insight-lander-shows-active-faults…
Mars InSight lander to push on top of the ‘mole’
After nearly a year of trying to dig into the Martian surface, the heat probe belonging to NASA’s InSight lander is about to get a push. The mission team plans to command the scoop on InSight’s robotic arm to press down on the “mole,” the mini pile driver designed to hammer itself as much as 16 feet (5 meters) down. They…
Mars InSight’s ‘mole’ is moving again
NASA’s InSight spacecraft has used its robotic arm to help its heat probe, known as “the mole,” dig nearly 2 centimeters (3/4 of an inch) over the past week. While modest, the movement is significant: Designed to dig as much as 16 feet (5 meters) underground to gauge the heat escaping from the planet’s interior, the mole has only managed to…