--- title: "NASA Releases Final Desolate Photo From Doomed Mars Lander" description: "Against all odds, NASA's Mars lander has, somehow, continued truckin' along — but its inevitable death seems to finally be at hand. " date: "2022-11-04" modified: "2022-11-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-final-photos-insight-mars" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "insight lander" - "mars" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA Releases Final Desolate Photo From Doomed Mars Lander ![Against all odds, NASA's Mars lander has, somehow, continued truckin' along — but its inevitable death seems to finally be at hand. ]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Landing Pad Against all odds, NASA's Mars lander has, somehow, continued truckin' along — but its inevitable death seems to finally be at hand. "This is almost the end," planetary scientist Paul Byrne tweeted alongside the InSight lander's latest (and likely last) photo, which the little craft that could took on October 30. https://twitter.com/ThePlanetaryGuy/status/1588287125656461317 The lander's journey thus far — from being [declared close to dead]() in the summer of 2021 after [NASA took emergency action]() to save it that spring, to the agency officially announcing that they had [essentially put a "Do Not Resuscitate" order]() on it in May of this year, only for it to [continue on living]() until now — has been nothing short of miraculous. It's also, clearly, inspired poetics. "Insight is sitting in Elysium Planitia, a vast equatorial plain," Byrne, an associate Earth and planetary science professor at St. Louis' Washington University, [continued](). "An absolutely barren, desolate place. Just look at that photo. Imagine how silent, how empty it is. How lonely." ## Martian Rhapsody Byrne isn't the only one driven to flowery language when describing InSight, either. "The day is coming when I’ll fall silent, ending my nearly four Earth years (over two Mars years) of studying the Red Planet," [NASA's InSight Twitter account posted](), in first-person as the lander. "As my time winds down on Mars, my team is helping make sure scientists can get the most out of everything I’ve gathered." Indeed, "the mission was planned to last one Earth year," [the planetary scientist tweeted](). "It's lasted four." The lander's biggest mission before its final transmission is, [per NASA](), to save all the data it's gathered about Mars' core and its seismic wave activity. Noble as that mission is, the scientists who work with InSight can't help but be rhapsodic when discussing it. "We’re pushing it to the very end," Jet Propulsion Laboratory science and operations team lead Liz Barrett said in the NASA press release. It will soon be lights out for InSight — and it will have a surprising number of mourners once that day finally comes. **More Mars:** [*Probe Detects "Unknown Features" Inside Martian Moon Phobos*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()