NASA attempts to reestablish communications with MAVEN<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Dec. 6, NASA scientists lost contact with the agency\u2019s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is located in orbit around Mars. MAVEN launched to Mars in November 2013 and entered orbit in September 2014, where it has been studying the Martian atmosphere and its disappearance due to solar wind. MAVEN\u2019s research into Mars\u2019 atmospheric loss has also provided insight into the evolution of the red planet\u2019s climate.<\/p>\n
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MAVEN launches to Mars atop an Atlas V. (Credit: NASA\/Bill Ingalls)<\/p>\n
MAVEN\u2019s team communicates with the spacecraft through NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network (DSN)\u2013 a worldwide network of large radio antennas that send and receive signals from NASA\u2019s fleet of spacecraft throughout the solar system. Normally, when MAVEN\u2019s orbit takes it behind Mars, teams briefly lose contact with the spacecraft until it emerges and reestablishes contact with the DSN. However, on Dec. 6, the DSN received no signals from MAVEN after it orbited behind Mars. Interestingly, before moving behind Mars, data sent to Earth from MAVEN on Dec. 4 showed that all its subsystems and electronics were working as expected.<\/p>\n
In a Dec. 15 statement, NASA explained that while all attempts to regain contact with MAVEN have been unsuccessful, mission teams were able to retrieve a small amount of tracking data from Dec. 6. The tracking data revealed that MAVEN was in an unexpected spin when it emerged from behind Mars, and the frequency of the signal suggests that the spacecraft\u2019s orbit may have been altered. NASA and MAVEN teams will continue to attempt to reestablish contact with the spacecraft over the next few weeks while analyzing tracking data for more clues about what happened when MAVEN was behind Mars.<\/p>\n
MAVEN\u2019s loss of contact has additional impacts on the operation of other missions at Mars, most notably surface spacecraft like Perseverance<\/em> and Curiosity.<\/em> MAVEN works with NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Odyssey, and the European Space Agency\u2019s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to relay communications to and from the rovers. With MAVEN out of service as a communications relay, NASA is working with MRO, Mars Odyssey, and ESA teams to ensure communications between Earth and the rovers can continue for the next two weeks. Perseverance<\/em> and Curiosity<\/em> teams are also adjusting their mission planning to account for the new communications setup without MAVEN.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n