InSight’s Robotic Arm Trickles Sand in the Wind

NASA’s InSight lander cleaned a bit of dust from one of its solar panels by trickling sand in the wind on May 22, 2021, the 884th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. As the sand blew over the panel, it picking up some dust as it went, resulting in a boost to InSight’s power. The lander has been experiencing declining power as dust accumulated on its solar panels and Mars gets farther from the Sun. Later this summer, InSight’s science instruments will be switched off to conserve power; this light cleaning of its solar panel will add helpful margin to the lander’s power reserves. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech