NASA expects to shut down Marslander InSight, which launched four years ago, within six weeks. At the last moment, the probe helped in the search for the source of the earthquake, which turned out to be a meteor impact.

Scientists have now decided that earthquake With its magnitude 4 from December 24 last year due to a meteor impact. To reach this conclusion, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was used, which flies around the planet. This led to before and after photos of the event, where the crater became visible.

The size of the meteorite is estimated to be about 5 to 12 metres. At this size, it could burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, but this does not apply to the thin atmosphere of Mars. The impact resulted in a crater 150 meters wide and 21 meters deep. It is likely to be one of the largest craters ever found after the arrival of science missions, according to NASA. There are much larger craters on Mars, but they are all much older and predate any mission to Mars.

The Marslander InSight mission It started in 2018. InSight was sent to Mars for soil research. The planned mission was completed in 2020 and extended until 2022. The question was how long InSight could remain active, as the solar panels that Marslander was equipped with became increasingly covered in dust. In recent months, the amount of electricity it generates has dropped dramatically, which is why NASA expects to finish the probe’s mission within six weeks. InSight detected a total of 1,318 earthquakes from Mars.