Last week, NASA revealed that its MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft, one of seven Earth-based probes currently orbiting Mars, had lost a signal.
According to its latest update, the agency has been unable to reestablish contact with the spacecraft and has not received any signs of life since December 4. To make matters worse, MAVEN appears to be “spinning in unexpected ways as it emerges from behind Mars,” which could make future attempts to regain control more difficult.
“The team continues to analyze tracking data to understand the scenarios most likely to have caused signal loss,” NASA wrote. “Efforts to reestablish contact with MAVEN also continue.”
It’s an unfortunate development for a probe that allows NASA to stay in touch with the rovers it currently tracks on Mars. It also provides valuable data about the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere and how solar particles interact with it, key studies that could reveal how the planet became the hostile, barren wasteland it is today.
Technically speaking, MAVEN “is still alive and transmitting on low-gain antennas!” as the German branch of the amateur radio operator organization AMSAT wrote in a Wednesday update on X. “The signal on our 20 meter antenna Sternwarte Bochum is very weak, but MAVEN is currently on command lock, [Deep Space Network] In Madrid. “
“Pray that they will be able to fully recover the spacecraft,” the organization added.
Now that the signal has been lost, NASA is “working to mitigate the impact of the MAVEN anomaly on ground operations of NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers.”
Fortunately, there is backup. MAVEN is one of four orbiters that can relay communications to support the agency’s operations on the Earth’s surface.
“NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter all remain operational,” the agency’s update reads.
As MAVEN dims, the agency has arranged to receive “additional passes from remaining orbiters” and the rover team has “adjusted its daily planned activities to continue its science mission.”
This isn’t the first time MAVEN has fallen into darkness. In 2022, scientists were forced to put the spacecraft into safe mode after a critical orientation sensor “began to exhibit unusual behavior,” according to NASA, but that time, they restored the spacecraft less than three months later.
More information about Maven: A NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars just mysteriously went offline
