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NASA’s Insight Mars lander rescue operation makes progress saving ‘stuck’ probe

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5 years ago

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The scientists running NASA’s Insight Mars lander found themselves attempting a rescue operation for the mission when one of its instruments became stuck in the red planet’s regolith early last year. After a few assistance maneuvers using a robotic shovel-clad arm in the months since, it appears the team has finally reached a point where there’s light at the end of the dusty tunnel.

“Another short test has my self-hammering mole making gradual progress. Pressing down on the soil above has helped it dig a little further. We’ll do another of these moves soon,” the lander’s official Twitter page announced recently.

So what happened?

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“Our leading theory was that the Mole did not move into the subsurface because the regolith did not provide enough friction to balance the recoil force of the Mole,” explained Tilman Spohn on DLR Blog, a site run by one of NASA’s European Insight partners, the German Aerospace Center.

The stuck instrument, named HP3 (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package), is one of the three main experiment tools on board the lander. It functions as a 40 cm long self-hammering probe that digs straight down into the surface to measure heat flow from the Martian interior and its thermal state. When operating as designed, the thermal conductivity of the soil is measured every 50 cm up to a depth of 5 meters. NASA’s team refers to the device as a ‘Mole’ as a nod to its underground burrowing, and the hashtag ‘#savethemole’ has become its social media rally cry for supporters of the rescue mission.

NASA’s Insight lander’s HP3 heat probe is stuck in Mars regolith. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
An InSight mockup on display at a recent NASA event. | Credit: Pauline Acalin

Ironically, lack of friction to support planned digging is very similar to a key plot point in the movie The Core. The ship used by the main characters to dig to the center of the Earth was engineered to work in a high pressure environment, but in the film the core wasn’t very solid at all. As is the case with Insight, plenty of scientific thinking was employed to overcome the challenge, albeit a bit less dramatically.

A stuck heat probe isn’t Insight’s only issue of late, either. Weather sensors on board the lander stopped sending data back to Earth a couple of weeks ago, and NASA’s team suspects an electronics issue is to blame. The instruments are currently in safe mode and await a reset while scientists assess what data is available to troubleshoot the issue in the meantime.

Despite its troubles, NASA’s Mars lander has already shared some memorable firsts since its arrival on the red planet two years ago, and it has sent back an enormous amount of data that will be very useful to scientists as humans make their way through space for a meet up one day. For one, Earthlings were able to hear the sound of wind on an alien world for the first time thanks to Insight’s instruments. The lander also proved that hyper-affordable satellites could be used for deep space missions via its travel companions, Mars Cube One. Launch newcomer Rocket Lab is now capitalizing on the prospects of these types of missions, paving the way for big things in the near future.

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You can watch an in-depth video about the HP3 instrument below:

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Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Tesla begins Holiday Update rollout with some surprise features

On Monday, just a few days after Tesla first announced the Holiday Update, people started reporting that it was being deployed to owners.

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1 hour ago

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December 9, 2025

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Credit: Grok

Tesla has started the rollout of the 2025 Holiday Update, as several owners reported it had arrived in their cars via a software update.

Tesla’s Holiday Update is rolling out as Software Version 2025.44.25.1, and includes several new features. We did an extensive breakdown of what was included in another article, but we’ll list the new additions below:

  • Grok with Navigation Commands (Beta) – Grok will now add and edit destinations.
  • Tesla Photobooth – Take pictures inside your car using the cabin-facing camera
  • Dog Mode Live Activity – Check on your four-legged friend on your phone through periodic snapshots taken of the cabin
  • Dashcam Viewer Update – Includes new metrics, like steering wheel angle, speed, and more
  • Santa Mode – New graphics, trees, and a lock chime
  • Light Show Update – Addition of Jingle Rush light show
  • Custom Wraps and License Plates – Colorizer now allows you to customize your vehicle even further, with custom patterns, license plates, and tint
  • Navigation Improvements – Easier layout and setup
  • Supercharger Site Map – Starting at 18 pilot locations, a 3D view of the Supercharger you’re visiting will be available
  • Automatic Carpool Lane Routing – Navigation will utilize carpool lanes if enabled
  • Phone Left Behind Chime – Your car will now tell you if you left a phone inside
  • Charge Limit Per Location – Set a charge limit for each location
  • ISS Docking Simulator –  New game
  • Additional Improvements – Turn off wireless charging pad, Spotify improvements, Rainbow Rave Cave, Lock Sound TRON addition

On Monday, just a few days after Tesla first announced the Holiday Update, people started reporting that it was being deployed to owners.

It seems the release is a bit of an apology to a particular group, as it has only made its way to Hardware 3 vehicles, particularly the ones using the AMD Ryzen chip.

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Tesla has excluded FSD-purchased and subscribed vehicles that are utilizing Hardware 3, so it seems there is a strategy to this limited rollout.

Two Surprise Additions

Tesla has added two additional features with the Holiday Update, which include a new Storage Space for Dashcam feature that shows how much space you have used and remaining on your USB drive.

Additionally, Tesla gamified Supercharging with a new “Charging Passport” feature, which we reported on earlier today.

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Tesla announces major milestone at Gigafactory Shanghai

First deliveries started in December 2019, with the first units being given to employees. By the end of 2020, the plant was building cars at a run rate of around 150,000 vehicles annually.

Published

4 hours ago

on

December 8, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has announced a major milestone at its Chinese manufacturing facility, Gigafactory Shanghai, confirming on Monday that it had built its four millionth vehicle.

Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai first started building cars back in October 2019 with Model 3 assembly, just ten months after the company broke ground on the plant’s 86-hectare piece of land.

First deliveries started in December 2019, with the first units being given to employees. By the end of 2020, the plant was building cars at a run rate of around 150,000 vehicles annually. Production continued to ramp up, and by September 2023, less than three years after it started building Tesla’s EVs, it had built its two millionth vehicle.

Fast forward to December 2025, and Tesla has confirmed that four million cars have rolled off of production lines at the plant, a major milestone in the six short years it has been active:

The capacity at Giga Shanghai is exceeding 950,000 vehicles per year, and this year, the company has delivered 675,000 cars through the first three quarters. It is also the only plant to manufacture the Model Y L, a longer wheel-based configuration of the all-electric crossover that is exclusive to the Chinese market.

Gigafactory Shanghai’s four million cars have not all stayed within the domestic market, either. For a considerable period, the factory was exporting a significant portion of its monthly production to Europe, helping Gigafactory Berlin supplement some Model Y volume and all of its Model 3 deliveries. This is due to the Berlin plant’s exclusive production plans for the Model 3.

The site is one of the most crucial in the company’s global plans, and Gigafactory Shanghai’s incredible pace, which has led to four million production units in just about six years. It’s fair to say that it won’t be long until we’re seeing Tesla celebrate the plant’s five millionth vehicle produced, which should happen sometime late next year or in early 2027, based on its current manufacturing pace.

The company also builds the Megapack on the property in an adjacent Megafactory.

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Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’

It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.

Published

16 hours ago

on

December 8, 2025

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Credit: MarcoRP | X

Tesla is gamifying its Supercharging experience by offering a new “Charging Passport,” hoping to add a new layer to the ownership experience.

While it is not part of the Holiday Update, it is rolling out around the same time and offers a handful of cool new features.

Tesla’s Charging Passport will be available within the smartphone app and will give a yearly summary of your charging experience, helping encapsulate your travel for that year.

It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.

Tesla will include the following metrics within the new Charging Passport option within the Tesla app:

  • Charging badges: Iconic charging badges for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc., Explorer Badge, and more
  • Total Unique Superchargers Visited
  • Total Charging Sessions
  • Total Miles Added during Charging Sessions
  • Top Charging Day
  • Longest Trip
  • Favorite Charging Locations

This will give people a unique way to see their travels throughout the year, and although it is not necessarily something that is needed or adds any genuine value, it is something that many owners will like to look back on. After all, things like Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have been a great way for people to see what music they listened to throughout the year.

This is essentially Tesla’s version of that.

With a handful of unique Superchargers already active, Tesla is also building some new ones, like a UFO-inspired location in New Mexico, near Roswell.

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Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country

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