After a local dust storm, NASA plans to restart the InSight probe to continue its scientific missions.
Around January 7, the InSight probe, which was on mission on the Elysium Planitia, the "Pure Land of Bliss" on Mars, encountered a regional large-scale sandstorm. In the process, a large amount of dust falls on its solar panels, causing its power generation to drop significantly. NASA launched an emergency plan to deal with this situation, issuing instructions to put the lander into safe mode and transmitting data from Mars back to Earth in time. In safe mode, InSight retains only basic functionality.
InSight selfie stitched together from March 15 to April 11, 2019 (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Martian dust is a big threat to spacecraft that use solar energy as a source of electricity. Dust reduces sunlight through the Martian atmosphere and may also cover solar panels. In 2018, NASA's Opportunity rover experienced the largest dust storm on record, and finally lost contact because it could not receive enough solar energy for a long time (read "Opportunity is suffering the strongest Martian dust storm in history", "Good night, Opportunity!"). 》）。
In fact, even before this sandstorm arrived, the solar panels of the "Insight" were already full of dust, and the power supply efficiency had been greatly reduced, so that the "power ration measures" had to be taken against the "Insight" and some scientific equipment was shut down. Later, the "Insight" team adopted a strange trick, let the bucket on its own robotic arm dig a spoonful of Martian soil, using the "sand drop" method, with the help of the "high wind" (~6m/s) at noon on the surface of Mars, let the large dust particles take away the small particles, and really reduced some dust for one of the panels, and the power generation power increased by 30 watts.
May 22, 2021 InSight uses a mechanical department bucket for dust removal. Pay attention to the lower left corner of the two pictures, the dust removal effect is still relatively obvious. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Winds on Mars, while not strong, are helpful in cleaning up the dust from the panels, especially small whirlwinds that both the Courage and Opportunity rovers have encountered during long missions. However, it seems that the luck of "insight" is not so good. Although its weather sensors have detected signs of large wind speeds or even whirlwinds many times, none of them have been able to help it remove dust.
New InSight solar panels shortly after landing in December 2018 (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
On Jan. 10, the task force reconnected with InSight and found that its power remained stable, still apparently low, but unlikely to drain the lander's battery, so decided to switch out of safe mode and re-engage in science missions. InSight landed on Mars on November 26, 2018, to study the internal structure of Mars. It had largely achieved its scientific goals a year earlier. NASA then plans to extend the mission until December 2022, based on the recommendations of the review panel. However, from the current situation, as the available energy of Insight gradually decreases, these scientific research activities have become more and more difficult.
Resources:
[1] NASA’s InSight Enters Safe Mode During Regional Mars Dust Storm
(https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-insight-enters-safe-mode-during-regional-mars-dust-storm)
[2] InSight's Robotic Arm Helps Remove Solar Panel Dust Trickles Sand in the Wind
(https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25952/insights-robotic-arm-helps-remove-solar-panel-dust-trickles-sand-in-the-wind/?site=insight)