Communication Lost with NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Orbiting Mars
NASA has temporarily lost contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, which reached Mars in 2014 along with India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan. The space agency said it is working to re-establish communication and assess the spacecraft’s status.
MAVEN’s primary mission has been to study Mars’ thin upper atmosphere and ionosphere. It has helped scientists understand how sunlight and the solar wind interact with the planet’s atmosphere and how these processes contributed to the gradual loss of Mars’ atmosphere over billions of years. The data provided by MAVEN has been crucial in explaining how Mars transformed from a warmer, wetter planet into the cold and dry world seen today.
NASA officials noted that temporary communication issues with deep-space missions are not uncommon and recovery efforts are under way. MAVEN has already exceeded its original mission life and delivered valuable scientific insights, making it one of NASA’s most successful Mars missions.
