The InSight mission team decided to extend the life of the station's seismometer. But this means that she will use up her available energy supply faster, according to Phys.. org.

As the amount of energy available to InSight is rapidly dwindling, the spacecraft's team has rescheduled the mission to maximize the scientific work it can do.. It was planned that the station would turn off the seismometer - the last scientific instrument that was still working - by the end of June.. This was supposed to save energy and allow the device to live until December..

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At the same time, now the specialists decided to continue the work of the seismometer until the end of August, and possibly until September.. As a result, its batteries will run out earlier, but will allow the seismometer to record additional marsquakes..

“InSight hasn’t finished telling us about Mars yet.. We're going to get all the science we can before the lander completes operations,"

InSight has already been able to register 1,300 quakes and provide scientists with information that has allowed them to measure the composition and depth of the Martian crust, mantle, and core.. Using other instruments, InSight recorded weather data, explored the soil beneath the lander, and studied what was left of Mars' ancient magnetic field..

All scientific instruments of the station, except for the seismometer, have already been turned off.. Like other spacecraft, InSight has a fail-safe system that automatically puts it into safe mode in threatening situations and disables all but the most essential functions.. Low batteries and temperatures below certain limits can cause the machine to go into safe mode.

In order to extend the life of the seismometer, the InSight team turned off the failsafe system. While this will allow the instrument to operate longer, shutting it down will prevent the craft from protecting itself from sudden situations and breakdowns that engineers on Earth cannot fix..

Recall that the device encountered technical difficulties on the Red Planet. Due to the large amount of dust on the solar panels, it cannot generate enough energy for scientific research.. Scientists believe that the station can complete its mission within a year.

InSight landed on Mars on November 26, 2018. It was supposed that the device will drill the Martian soil, but after two years of unsuccessful attempts, NASA decided to abandon this.