Signal Suddenly Lost from Spacecraft Orbiting Mars, Investigation Ongoing
Loading...
NASA has suffered a major setback. Contact was lost with the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft, which has been operating in Mars orbit, on December 6, 2025. This spacecraft conducts in-depth studies of Mars' atmosphere while also serving as a critical communication relay for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on the surface.
According to NASA's team, all systems on the spacecraft were functioning completely normally when it passed behind Mars. A brief loss of contact due to being behind the planet is natural, but when MAVEN emerged from the other side, no signal was received by Earth's Deep Space Network (DSN). Describing it as an "anomaly," NASA is investigating and has promised updates soon.
Launched in 2013, MAVEN has been in Mars orbit since 2014. It has directly studied the process of Mars' atmosphere escaping into space, the effects of solar winds, and phenomena like "sputtering." Recently, it captured the first ultraviolet images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
The loss of contact will not significantly impact the rovers, as other orbiters like the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available around Mars. NASA hopes that, like previous incidents, this issue will also be resolved.
Complete Step 1 first...
This event highlights the complexities of space missions and the critical role played by aging spacecraft.
Comments
Post a Comment