NASA has published a short press release on the situation with the MAVEN spacecraft. Attempts to reestablish contact with it have been unsuccessful so far.
The MAVEN mission entered orbit around Mars in 2014. Its main task was to study the current state and evolution of the Red Planet’s atmosphere and, in particular, the mechanism of its loss under the influence of solar wind. The spacecraft was also actively used to relay data collected by rovers and landing stations on the surface back to Earth.
On December 6, NASA unexpectedly lost contact with the spacecraft. This happened when MAVEN went behind Mars and was out of sight of ground stations. After the spacecraft emerged from behind Mars, NASA’s Deep Space Network was no longer able to receive the spacecraft’s signal.
Although no telemetry data has been received from the spacecraft since December 4, the mission team has managed to recover a brief fragment of tracking data received on the day the spacecraft was lost. Analysis of the signal shows that when MAVEN came out from behind Mars, it was rotating in an abnormal mode. In addition, the frequency of the tracking signal indicates that the spacecraft’s orbital trajectory may have changed. The team continues to analyze the tracking data to understand the most likely scenarios that led to the loss of signal. Attempts to reestablish communication with MAVEN are also continuing.
NASA is also working to mitigate the impact of the MAVEN accident on the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers. It was one of four spacecraft relaying their data back to Earth. Now NASA has only Mars Odyssey, MRO, and the European TGO at its disposal. For the next two weeks of planned operations, NASA will organize additional flybys of the remaining orbiters, and the Perseverance and Curiosity teams have adjusted their daily plans to continue their scientific missions.
It should be noted that Mars Odyssey has been operating since 2001 and is expected to run out of fuel soon. If NASA fails to reestablish contact with MAVEN, this will further complicate the situation regarding communication with the rovers.
