NASA has announced a loss of communication with one of its three spacecraft currently orbiting Mars. This news comes as another orbiter is nearing a critical fuel shortage, while a third mission has exceeded its expected operational life.
The last contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft was on Saturday, December 6. According to a brief statement from NASA, "Telemetry from MAVEN had showed all subsystems working normally before it orbited behind the red planet. After the spacecraft emerged from behind Mars, NASA’s Deep Space Network did not observe a signal."
NASA’s mission controllers are "investigating the anomaly to address the situation. More information will be shared once it becomes available," the agency stated.
A Long Life at Mars
MAVEN is the most recent addition to NASA’s trio of operational Mars orbiters. Launched in September 2014 after a 10-month journey from Earth, the mission started by examining the interactions between the Sun and Mars' atmosphere.
In its early stages, MAVEN provided crucial insights into how solar winds eroded the Martian atmosphere over billions of years, turning it from a potential habitat into the cold, arid world we observe today. By studying the densities of argon isotopes, the mission explained how "sputtering" contributed to the loss of air and water. It also offered detailed plasma observations critical for understanding Martian auroras.
Built by Lockheed Martin, MAVEN has exceeded its initial mission expectations. It recently served as a critical relay node, passing communications between Earth and Mars' surface rovers. Should NASA fail to reestablish contact with MAVEN, two other orbiters are available to take over its relay duties.