Exploring space is quite the lofty goal, as there is a lot of technology that is involved in getting all the images and data that we receive from places like Mars, but what happens with all that tech once it outlives its purpose or breaks down? There is no way to get it back to Earth and recycle it, so it just stays where it stops and we hope that one day we will be able to retrieve it.
Here on Earth, even the sturdiest of products eventually break down, but there are different conditions in Mars that mean that erosion and decomposition of essentially metal chunks is different than it would be here on the surface. For now, all that we know is that we have sent things up there, and sometimes we get glimpses of them thanks to other pieces of tech that makes the trip.
The latest images from Mars that have detected some of our space tech
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a satellite that was sent to orbit the red planet and snap high-res images of the Martian surface. While it has provided sicentists with a lot of invaluable data, it has also come up with a few snap shots of the unexpected variety, and that is that it has found the final resting place of InSight.
InSight officially wrapped up its mission in December 2022 after four years of hard work as a geologic scout on Mars. Its main mission was to study the planet’s seismic activity, and during its tenure it managed to detect more than 1,300 marsquakes, which gave some insights as to the formation of the planet. It even helped scientists learn more about Mars’ core and sent daily weather updates from its spot on the planet.
It is only thanks to the powerful camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that we know what happened to InSight, as it was built with one fatal flaw, its energy came solely from solar panels. While this sounds like a good idea, Mars is a very dusty planet, and slowly but surely, dust piled up on its panels until it could no longer catch enough sunlight to keep its batteries alive, especially considering there is no one there to clean them.
Unlike posterior missions, which were powered by nuclear sources (like the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, though) the fact that InSight only had that power source meant that once the batteries could not operate anymore, the space lander just stayed put in one spot. Despite the fact that it can no longer carry out its original mission, NASA is taking the picture as a blessing and is studying it with another equaly important purpose.
On a post on X (formerly twitter) the agency published the picture with the following caption “Can you spot @NASAInSight? The retired lander was recently spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. By studying InSight’s landing site over time, scientists can see how quickly dust accumulates, which helps estimate the age of other surface disturbances.” So while InSight is not sending back data anymore, it is still helping scientists understand how the Martian environment changes over time.
The picture shows InSight on the flat, wide stretch of Martian terrain known as Elysium Planitia, an area where there is no rain and nothing but wind, but the lander is not alone. Mars is full of other debris from past missions. The Opportunity rover, the Phoenix lander and the Ingenuity helicopter are just some of the equipment that can be found in the red planet, but there is also old parachutes and bits of landing gear from past arrivals.
Hopefully one day we will get the chance to get some of this gear back to Earth, or at least out of the planet.