Mars InSight Lander sends its last message, a touching tribute to the Opportunity Rover

It’s been four years since the Mars InSight Lander first touched down on the Red Planet. It’s on its last breath now.

As clouds of dust and smoke continue to plague the planet’s surface weakening the InSight Lander’s solar-powered power bank, NASA had issued a warning in November declaring the lander to be close to its end, bringing its path breaking exploration of the mysteries of Mars to a close.

NASA InSight’s Twitter shared what very well may be its final message before signing off along with one final picture. 

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. pic.twitter.com/wkYKww15kQ

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) December 19, 2022

Equipped with a seismograph and geological hammer, the robot lander began its mission on Mars in November 2018 and has since been crucial to the study and understanding of the planet’s geology.

Having measured over 1,300 seismic events and conducted numerous geological excavations that revealed details about Mars’ interior layers and its liquid core; the InSight spacecraft has been invaluable in Martian geographical studies.

In similar likeness to InSight, the Mars Opportunity Rover, fondly remembered as “Oppy” , ceased communications with NASA following a dust storm and sent out a last message before entering total hibernation. 

The last message they received was basically, “My battery is low and it’s getting dark.” They hoped that the windy season would clear dust off the solar panels (if that was the problem). Since then they've been pinging her again and again, every way they knew… 3/

— Jacob Margolis (@JacobMargolis) February 12, 2019

NASA has now turned off all external instruments to conserve the lander’s dwindling power supply for as much as possible. NASA will declare the mission over when InSight misses two consecutive communication sessions with the spacecraft orbiting Mars

Farewell InSight. You’ve done well.