According to CNET, Mars selfie is a complete image category. They provide a good hardware appearance for mission teams on earth, but they are also a way to help space enthusiasts connect with distant explorers on the red planet NASA's insight lander has sent back what may be its last self photo
On Monday, NASA's JPL team posted on twitter the GIF between insight's first selfie in December 2018 and its most recent selfie. It highlights how much dust is now covering the lander. JPL described it as "this may be its last self photo".
This image, taken on April 24, is a mosaic taken by a camera mounted on the lander's robotic arm. The robot arm plans to take a "retirement posture" this month.
Because of a thick layer of dust on its solar panels, insight has to ration energy, and the team is giving priority to its seismograph to "listen" to the Mars earthquake. As the dust problem worsens, insight is expected to end its mission by the end of this year. JPL even named the photo in the press release "the last self photo of insight".
It's hard to say goodbye to a mission that has taken years of attention, but insight has fulfilled its promise to illuminate the interior of Mars. Not everything is going as planned, but its data on the earthquake on Mars and the internal composition of the red planet are enlightening for researchers studying rocky planets such as Mars and earth.