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    NASA InSight’s Power Level as of Nov. 5, 2022

    As of Nov. 5, 2022, InSight is generating an average of 310 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.33 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).

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    NASA’s AWE Mission to Study Airglow

    The bottom half shows a dark, cloudy Earth from above. The middle of the image, outlining the Earth is a glowing line, that goes from orange, to teal green. Above the Earth, there is a dark starry sky. There is a red foggy line – airglow. Peaking out from the top is the International Space Station.

    NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) will study atmospheric gravity waves to understand the flow of energy through Earth's upper atmosphere and space. Powerful waves are formed by weather disturbances, such as strong thunderstorms, brewing hurricanes, or winds rushing upward over massive obstacles at Earth's surface, like the towering Andes Mountains.

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    NASA InSight’s Power Level as of Oct. 31, 2022

    As of October 31, 2022, InSight is generating an average between 280 and 290 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.33 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).

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    THE GREAT SPRITES CHASE

    Intricate red lights hover a field. A windmill rises in the background.

    THE GREAT SPRITES CHASE A NASA scientist and night-sky fanatic chase the elusive lights across Oklahoma. The odds are not in their favor. By Lina Tran It wasn't dark enough. We'd driven east for two hours from Oklahoma City, and still, a stubborn red light blinked from a nearby wind farm. Paul Smith sighed with …

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    NASA InSight’s Power Level as of Oct. 22, 2022

    As of October 22, 2022, InSight's seismometer is collecting data again after being switched off to conserve energy after a recent dust storm. The lander was generating an average of 280 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.45 (typical tau …

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    NASA InSight’s Power Level as of Oct. 19, 2022

    On October 19, 2022, InSight was generating an average between 275 and 285 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.5 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).

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    NASA’s Geotail Mission Experiences an Anomaly

    Artistic representation of the Geotail spacecraft. The 3D image blue spacecraft is set against the dark back drop of space in the distance are small orbs representing planets and a bright white circle representing the Sun.

    NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are determining how to move forward with the joint Geotail mission since discovering the spacecraft's last operational data recorder has failed. Originally, Geotail was equipped with two data recorders to collect the mission's scientific data. One …

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    NASA InSight’s Power Level as of Oct. 8, 2022

    On October 8, 2022, InSight was generating an average of 300 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol – an increase after a sharp decline last week from 430 watt-hours per sol to a low of 275 watt-hours per sol. The decline was caused by a regional dust storm which, though thousands of miles …

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    NASA InSight’s Power Level as of Sept. 17, 2022

    On September 17, 2022, InSight was generating an average of 420 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at .85 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).

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