By Savannah Meacham
A NASA robot is nearing the end of its lifespan but didn’t run out of battery without a final emotional tweet.
The NASA InSight lander was launched in May, 2018, and landed on Mars six months later.
Just over four years later, the robot is about to kick the bucket but not without sending its last tweet which has tugged at the hearts of social media users.
“My power’s really low, so this may be the last image I can send,” the robot, or its social media managers, tweeted.
“Don’t worry about me though: my time here has been both productive and serene.
“If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will – but I’ll be signing off here soon.
“Thanks for staying with me.”
The robot was sent to study below the surface and deep inside Mars including its crust, mantle and core.
The lander arrived on Mars in November 2018 and has been collecting informatione ever since. (NASA)
It has also been monitoring the tectonic, seismic and meteorite movements on the planet.
“Studying Mars’ interior structure answers key questions about the early formation of rocky planets in our inner solar system – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – more than four billion years ago, as well as rocky exoplanets,” NASA said.
During its four-year exploration, the lander detected a magnitude four marsquake which scientists believe was the result of a meteorite strike.
It has measured over 1300 seismic events.
The robot also studied dust devils which are dust storms that occur on Mars and the electrical currents flowing through the centre of the planet.