This is an engineering model of NASA's #Mars lander #InSight. I took the picture in November 2018 while visiting JPL a few days before the landing (which went well). The folks at #JPL used a sandbox to simulate the conditions that the lander would encounter. This included not only the properties of the soil but also the lighting conditions. Note the yellow Martian light. Scientifically, InSight had a mixed success. While a "Mars Mole" provided by @DLR failed to dig into the soil as planned, a French built seismometer gathered loads of data on Mars quakes, including events that were triggered by the impact of #meteorites. Over time dust accumulated on the solar panels, though. Due to constraints rated to complexity and cost no cleaning mechanism was implemented. Now, according to #Nasa, the power lever is so low that InSight stopped responding to commands from the earth. So, rest in peace you little dusty machine that helped us learn so much about Mars's interior. #RIP