
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has lost contact with a spacecraft that has orbited Mars for more than a decade.
Maven abruptly stopped communicating to ground stations over the weekend. NASA said this week that it was working fine before it went behind the red planet. When it reappeared, there was only silence.
Launched in 2013, Maven began studying the upper Martian atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind once reaching the red planet the following year. Scientists ended up blaming the sun for Mars losing most of its atmosphere to space over the eons, turning it from wet and warm to the dry and cold world it is today.
Maven also has served as a communication relay for NASA’s two Mars rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance.
Engineering investigations are underway, according to NASA.
NASA has two other spacecraft around Mars that are still active: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005, and Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Watch SpaceX launch NASA's Pandora exoplanet-studying satellite on Jan. 11 - 2
6 Vehicle Rental Administrations: Pick Your Ideal Ride - 3
Six Flags Opens the Tallest, Fastest and Longest Roller Coaster in the World - 4
Choosing Moving Styles for Your Restroom Redesign - 5
Figure out How to Take part in Open Conversations Around 5G Pinnacles
Must-Have Cooking Machine in Your Kitchen
The Best Business visionaries Under 30
From Overpowered to Coordinated: Individual Accounts of Cleaning up
What exactly is the Upside Down in 'Stranger Things'? The wormhole revelation, explained.
Ocean side Objections: Staggering Waterfront Breaks
Discovery of ancient pleasure boat reveals Egypt's maritime history
75% of US adults may meet criteria for obesity under new definition, study finds
The Electric Bicycle Americans Can Confide in 2024
PFAS in pregnant women’s drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds












