NASA's InSight Mars lander may have sent its last image to Earth

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The InSight Mars lander has sent what could be its final image to Earth as NASA expects the probe to stop transmitting.

"My power's really low, so this may be the last image I can send. Don't worry about me though: my time here has been both productive and serene. If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will -- but I'll be signing off here soon. Thanks for staying with me," the InSight lander's official account tweeted on Tuesday.

InSight, which is short for "Interior Exploration Seismic Investigation, Geodesy and Heat Transport," landed on Mars in November 2018 with equipment designed to study the planet's structure in the hopes of gaining greater understanding of how planets form. During its mission, InSight recorded unexplained magnetic pulses and Martian wind. It also gathered data from "marsquakes."

Dust buildup is a major problem for solar-powered landing probes because accumulation can form on the solar panels, blocking sunlight. NASA was counting on periodic gusts of wind to help clear the equipment but the landing area has experienced less wind than team members had hoped for.

By February, 2021, InSight's solar panels were operating at only 27% capacity due to a layer of dust that had formed on them. In May, 2021, NASA used one of InSight's arms to place sand in a position where if could blow across the panels and clear off some of the dust. The probe was put into low power mode in July 2022 when NASA decided the dust buildup was too significant to continue the mission at full capacity.

NASA's Perseverance lander and Ingenuity helicopter will continue their mission on Mars for the immediate future.