NASA's Mars InSight is unstuck and officially back to work

It was looking grim for NASA's Mars InSight mission back at the beginning of October. But now, things seem to have turned around.

The InSight lander had originally been sent to the Red Planet with the goal of drilling some 16 feet into the Martian terrain, to measure heat beneath the surface. But after only 14 inches of progress, there was a problem: the "mole" (aka drill with a built-in heat probe) would go no further.

It got stuck in Feb. 2019 and remained that way until early October, when NASA came up with a new plan. The idea was to use the InSight lander's metal scoop to refill the 14-inch hole and then act as a support for the mole to press up against as it tunneled down. Read more...