(ORDO NEWS) — The InSight lander is facing a Martian dust storm that hit the Red Planet in late September.
A hurricane could cover InSight’s solar panels with sand and leave NASA‘s spacecraft without a power source.
In early October, the US space agency already noted a significant drop in the energy that the lander receives from the Sun.
The lander’s solar arrays are covered in a thick layer of dust, causing the lander to lose its ability to generate electricity.
NASA has already turned off most of the lander’s instruments, leaving only the seismometer to work to capture as many quakes as possible.
InSight was operational before the storm, NASA even expected to extend its operation until early 2023, but a dust storm may “bury” InSight.
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