Mars is a harsh environment for many reasons: it’s cold, the atmosphere is extremely thin, and the planet experiences epic dust storms that can coat everything in a region with a layer of particles. Such a dust storm required the NASA InSight lander to be placed in safe mode to preserve battery power.
Dust storms can sometimes encompass the entire planet, but this particular storm is regional to where the lander is located. The biggest threat the dust storm poses to the lander is covering its solar panels and thus reducing the amount of energy the lander can collect. Not only does dust collect on the panels, but it also blocks sunlight passing through the atmosphere. Without enough sunlight reaching the solar panels to recharge its batteries, the lander’s mission is in jeopardy – like the dust storms that led to the demise of the Opportunity rover in 2018.

Fortunately, the InSight team was warned of the dust storm’s arrival thanks to its detection by an instrument from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, an orbiting craft that creates maps of the Martian surface. Images from the Mars Color Imager showed the dust storm moving, and they now suggest the regional storm is fading.
To ensure the lander’s safety, it was put into safe mode on Friday, January 7, which means it stopped collecting scientific data and used only minimal functions. This saves energy, which was already a concern for the mission.
“Even before this recent dust storm, dust had accumulated on InSight’s solar panels, reducing power to the lander,” NASA wrote in a statement. update. “Using a shovel on the lander’s robotic arm, the InSight team found an innovative way to reduce dust on a panel and achieved several energy boosts in 2021, but these activities are becoming increasingly more difficult as available energy decreases.”
The team hopes their efforts will allow the lander to pass until the dust storm passes and they can resume science operations. “InSight engineers hope to be able to order the lander out of safe mode next week,” NASA wrote. “This will allow more flexibility in the operation of the lander, since communication, which requires a relatively large amount of power, is limited in safe mode to save battery power.”
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