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January 21, 2021 The mission team for NASA’s InSight lander called off its attempts to try to dig deeper into Mars with the heat probe known as “the mole.” Meanwhile, the rest of the mission gained an extension to December 2022. Here’s the NASA’s InSight lander’s heat probe – nicknamed “the mole” – on October 3, 2020, when the spike-like mole was still trying to burrow into the red Martian soil. The copper-colored ribbon attached to the mole has sensors to measure the planet’s heat flow. Now NASA engineers have called a halt to this part of the mission. Image via NASA/ J...

After two years of futile struggles to penetrate surprisingly sticky soil, the heat probe’s demise leaves large gaps in our understanding of the Red Planet’s interior

NASA's InSight lander has been studying the red planet for more than two years now. During that time, InSIght has ...

In this artist's concept of NASA's InSight lander on Mars, layers of the planet's subsurface can be seen below, and dust devils can be seen in the background. Credits: IPGP/Nicolas Sarter. The heat probe hasn’t been able to gain the friction it needs to dig, but the mission has been granted an extension to carry on with its other science. The heat probe developed and built by the German Aerospace Center and deployed on Mars by NASA’s InSight lander has ended its portion of the mission. Since Feb. 28, 2019, the probe, called the “mole,” has been attempting to burrow into the Martian s...

The spacecraft with solar arrays made in Goleta launched from Vandenberg AFB in 2018 This illustration shows NASA’s InSight spacecraft with its instruments deployed on the Martian surface. The solar arrays on the left and right sides of InSight were built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems in Goleta and keep the craft powered for its mission. By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully January 16, 2021 | 9:38 p.m. The Mars InSight mole’s role will end, but other aspects of the mission will continue for another two years, NASA officials said. InSight — whic...