RIP: Mars digger bites the dust after 2 years on red planet

NASA has declared the Mars digger dead after failing to burrow deep into the red planet to take its temperature. Scientists in Germany spent two years trying to get their heat probe, dubbed the mole, to drill into the Martian crust. But the 16-inch-long (40-centimetre) device that is part of NASA’s InSight lander couldn’t gain enough friction in the red dirt. It was supposed to bury 16 feet (5 metres) into Mars, but only drilled down a couple of feet (about a half metre).