Hell yes, the InSight heat probe is now completely buried on Mars

There is some happiness The news to be reported from the red planet, like the stubborn Mars heat probe, known as the “mole,” is now buried completely. It’s an encouraging development, as the surrounding dirt could push the instrument to bore deeper through the crust of Mars.

InS’s ongoing sagaAit Lander Heat flow package and physical properties Took an important turn, or at least hopefully. The self-paced drills, built by the German Space Agency (DLR) and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are now completely obscured by Martian red dirt – a sign that they may soon be able to drill properly. Friction needs to move down. Up until this point, it was mostly bouncing up and down like a The useless pogo stick.

The purpose of the mole, as adorable kids call it, is to take temperature readings under the crust of Mars, At a maximum depth of 10 feet (3 meters). But this device has proven to be the most frustrating aspect of the InSight mission, which began in November 2018 when the probe reached Elysium Planitia. Yontil recently, 16 inches (40-Centimeter) Probe It could hardly remove the surface, and at a particularly sad point – about a year ago at this time – Mars refused the exercises, Spitting up Back on the roof.

Now, it is not the mole that is uncooperative, but the dust of Mars. Self-knocking the mole causes dirt to clump together, forming a gap around the device rather than collapsing around it. Unfortunately, NASA simply cannot capture a mole and try to dig elsewhere: the probe does not have it ‘Engagement point’ That can be accommodated by InSight’s robotic arm.

Starting last year, Use the mission planners to prevent the mole from moving in the wrong direction InSight scoop To try Attach the probe to the bottom of the hole and keep it in the ground. This worked out a little, but NASA ran into a snag in July when the mole stopped landing. The team blamed duricrust husk – a cement-like mixture in which granules travelck together – to interrupt. NASA pressed the pause button at this point because the InSight Arm was required to perform other tasks, but it’s now back to the mole details.

As reported by NASA, the mole is now fully buried in the Martian regolith Out of sight. All that is now visible is the tape cable coming out of the ground (the cable is loaded with temperature sensors designed to measure heat flow below the surface).

Troy Hudson, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer leading the effort, explained in a NASA statement: “I am very happy that we were able to recover from the unexpected ‘popup’ event we experienced and make the mole deeper than it has ever been.

Hey, an unexpected “pop-up” event said, “It’s not me. I am simply a messenger.

Anyhoo, the next step for the arm would be, with a hand ladle, to pile more dirt on top and Pack it nice and tight. NASA says this will take months, and it won’t be difficult-It is time to run the probe until early 2021. Hudson “wants to make sure there is enough soil on top of the mole to enable it to dig on its own without any aid from the arm.”

Some InSight Team seems boring But it is important Work in front of them. Burying the probe completely now is encouraging news, but there is still no guarantee that NASA’s strategy will work. As mentioned, it appears that the team is handling less than ideal dirt, and roadwork can continue to form pockets inside the hole, resulting in a loss of friction. Let’s hope I’m wrong, and soon see some of the Red Planet temperature readings in depth.