After a long struggle with Martian dust, NASA’s InSight probe has gone quiet
Enlarge / This is probably the last image taken by InSight on the surface of Mars and relayed back to Earth. (credit: NASA)
NASA's InSight lander has probably phoned home for the last time from the planet Mars.
The space agency said the spacecraft did not respond to communications from Earth on Sunday, December 18. The lack of communications came as the lander's power-generating capacity has been declining in recent months due to the accumulation of Martian dust on its solar panels. NASA said that it is "assumed" that InSight has reached the end of its operations but that it will continue to try to contact the lander in the coming days.
Also on Monday, the InSight Twitter account shared a photo with a message saying this was probably the last photo it was sending from Mars.