The most recent disappointment on the red planet is the mole saga, also known as the NASA InSight lander heat probe. NASA has officially given up this part of the ongoing mission one month ago, after more than a year trying to make it work. The robotic excavator was supposed to dig deep underground and gather data on the inner steps of Mars. But the problems began in early 2019, when the probe did not appear to reach more than an inch below the ground. Earth engineers tested some strategies to make it move, including fixing it with the robotic arm of the lander. Unfortunately, the ground would not cooperate. Where the team hoped to find a loose regulation, instead it ran into “durcrust”, a thick, cement-like material. “We have given him everything we have, but Mars and our heroic mole remain incompatible” dit the project’s lead researcher, Tilman Spohn, in January 2021. “Fortunately, we have learned many things that will benefit future missions that will attempt to dig underground.”
All these painful memories make the successes even sweeter and we look forward to the whole new science of the Perseverance rover.