NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft, which has been studying the upper atmosphere of Mars for more than a decade, suddenly stopped communicating with Earth. The spacecraft was supposed to send telemetry data, but the signals never registered with NASA’s Deep Space Network system, a global network of radio antennas designed to communicate with spacecraft in deep space.
Less than a week later, NASA announced that MAVEN, after emerging from the shadow of Mars, “rotated in an unexpected way.” The last official announcement was made on December 23, when the agency said that “efforts to re-establish contact” with the spacecraft are continuing.
The fate of the NASA MAVEN probe is increasingly uncertain
However, as time goes on, the outlook gets worse. The director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, Louise Procter, admitted at a meeting that it was “highly unlikely” that MAVEN would be brought back into service. This statement further confirmed fears that the orbiter may have been permanently lost.
NASAHowever, a small hope still exists. The period of the so-called solar conjunction of Mars, during which Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun and communication is difficult, ends on January 16. After that, NASA will get another chance to try to make contact with the spacecraft.
In the December report, the agency stated that the team is trying to reconstruct a possible sequence of events by analyzing partial data collected during the radio science campaign at the beginning of the month. The Mastcam camera on the Curiosity rover was also used in an attempt to visually observe MAVEN in orbit, but without success.
Although the situation is discouraging, NASA still has three other spacecraft at its disposal that can serve as a communication bridge between Mars missions and Earth. In addition, a legislative package known as the “Big, Beautiful Bill” revived the idea of a new generation of communications orbiter for Mars, but its launch date remains unknown for now.
For now, there is only hope that, after the completion of the solar conjunction, contact with MAVEN will be established. However, judging by the latest statements from NASA, the chances for a positive outcome are decreasing, reports Futurism.