NASA has lost contact with a spacecraft that has orbited Mars for more than a decade. The MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiter abruptly stopped communicating with ground stations over the weekend. NASA confirmed this week that the spacecraft was working fine before it passed behind the Red Planet; however, when it reappeared, there was only silence.
MAVEN's mission and legacy
Launched in 2013, MAVEN reached Mars the following year and began studying the upper Martian atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. Through this mission, scientists determined that the Sun was responsible for Mars losing most of its atmosphere over the eons, transforming the planet from a potentially wet and warm world into the dry, cold environment it is today.
MAVEN has also served a critical role as a communication relay for NASA's two active Mars rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance. Engineering investigations into the communications loss are currently underway, according to NASA.
Remaining active orbiters
NASA currently has two other spacecraft actively orbiting Mars:
- Mars Odyssey: Launched in 2001, this spacecraft holds the record for the longest continually active mission in orbit around a planet other than Earth. Odyssey successfully completed its primary science mission between February 2002 and August 2004. Today, it continues to study clouds, fog, and frost, and maps surface rocks to help make future Mars landings safer. It has completed over 100,000 orbits around the Red Planet. Its initial mission created the first global map of the chemical elements and minerals making up the Martian surface.
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO): In 2005, a spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral. Its mission is to look for signs that water has been on the surface of Mars for extended periods. While previous missions have shown that water once flowed across Mars a long time ago, MRO aims to find out if Mars ever had water available for long enough to support life.
