NASA's InSight Rover Tweets Us A Heartbreaking Goodbye
It's always sad to say goodbye to a friend, but why is it so sad to part with a robot that's approximately 140 million miles away? It might make no sense, but it certainly stings. NASA's InSight robot landed on Mars in 2018, and at the time of writing, its been there for 1,445 "Sols," which is the Martian equivalent of a day. While on Mars, the robot accomplished many useful and cool things, but now, it's slowly nearing the end of its life — and it's final communication is strangely heartbreaking.
NASA InSight — or rather the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigation, Geodesy, and Heat Transport mission — was scheduled to last for two years. The robot left Earth in May of 2018 and landed in November of that same year, swiftly getting to work. Its main purpose is to read and interpret the data provided by its built-in seismometer. It also has a heat probe (HP3) that it uses to measure the internal heat transfer on the planet, granting some insight into the way the planet evolved. It also has a built-in camera, which is the best part of it for most space enthusiasts, because it regularly sent pictures back home to show us where it is and what Mars looks like. Thousands of those pictures can be found on NASA's official page for the InSight mission.
The robot has more than completed its mission, which was originally only planned to last for 709 Sols (728 days). However, as it's equipped with solar panels, it was able to keep going far longer than intended, and it's been doing a great job working overtime. Sadly, it seems that InSight doesn't have much left in the tank to keep going.
InSight bids us farewell with a thanks
NASA's InSight has its own Twitter profile, and through that, the mission's team is able to share news about InSight's discoveries, including the time it was able to record the sound of wind on Mars — the first time we've been able to hear the wind on another planet. This time around, instead of sharing a happy update, the robot said its final farewell. Over two years past its original mission time, InSight is running out of resources and will not be able to keep communicating with Earth for much longer.
NASA seems fond of making Twitter accounts for its probes and robots. It's an approachable way to keep the general public up to date on each mission, so InSight is not the only robot with a Twitter account. In fact, in a recent tweet, InSight said: "Time may be short for me, but I'll keep sending back science for as long as I can. Meanwhile, I'm not the only bot on Mars." The message was followed by links to the NASA Persevere and NASA Curiosity Twitter accounts.
InSight's final tweet definitely humanized the robot and it went viral in record time, with over half a million likes at the time of writing. "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," said the tweet, signing off with a short, but heart-wrenching, "Thanks for staying with me."