Time is running out for NASA's InSight lander on Mars. The plucky mission that landed on the red planet in late November 2018 and since then (with a few hiccups), it has been diligently recording seismic activity. The primary goals of InSight were to better understand how geologically active Mars might be and map out the planet's interior. By that measure, InSight was a massive success. Yet, it is the Martian dust that swirls in the air and settles on InSight's solar panels that is bringing it all to an end.
The realm of extraterrestrial seismology is a small place. The only objects in our solar system where we have put seismometers to measure quakes are the Moon and Mars. The Moon hosted working seismometers from 1969 to 1977. During that time they recorded thousands over that 8 year span.
On Mars, the first seismometers were on the Viking landers ...
