NASA/JPL Is "Back To The Drawing Board" -- On Martian Surface Mining Work-Arounds, At InSight's Outpost...

Well, the excitement was short-lived. It may well be that we never reach five meters, or fifteen feet of depth -- on the Mars lander's hammering mole experiment. The "dippin'-dots" like frozen sand globules just fall back into the center of the hole, as quickly as the hammering action of the spike slides under them, it simply creates a wider, more bowl shaped hole.

One of many MSM stories on it, here -- and to be certain, this is disappointing, as all other experiments on the lander are performing exactly as expected. The InSight team's latest tweet reads:

. . . .Mars continues to surprise us. While digging this weekend the mole backed about halfway out of the ground. Preliminary assessment points to unexpected soil properties as the main reason. Team looking at next steps. . . .

So we may not get an accurate sub-surface temperature reading for Mars, on this trip. So it goes. Onward; ever onward. Even so, much wonder exists, in this moment of interplantary science -- we are truly privileged to be alive. . . to witness it all. So. . . yes -- onward.

नमस्ते