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NASA’s Mole was never able to drill through Mars. Scientists abandon attempts to use InSight instrument

The InSight spacecraft operating on Mars, among other things, has the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package on board. In fact, this is some kind of a borax, which had to get to a five-meter depth in order to estimate the amount of heat coming from the inner layers of the planet.

NASA's Mole was never able to drill through Mars.  Scientists abandon attempts to use InSight instrument

However, from the very beginning, with this tool, work did not go at all as the scientists expected. It turned out that the ground at the landing site of the device is significantly different from that which scientists have encountered in previous missions. In particular, it was too loose. Because of this, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package probe could not sink normally into the soil.

NASA's Mole was never able to drill through Mars.  Scientists abandon attempts to use InSight instrument

For two years, NASA specialists tried to solve the problem in various ways, but, despite some successes, they still could not win this battle. As a result, the other day it became known that NASA had abandoned attempts to drill the Red Planet.

We have done everything we have, but Mars and our heroic mole remain incompatible. Luckily, we’ve learned a lot that will benefit future missions that try to dig the bowels

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