NASA has officially concluded operations of one of its most successful Mars orbital spacecraft. After several months of unsuccessful attempts to re-establish communication with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, the agency declared the probe lost. The last signal from MAVEN was received on 6 December via the Deep Space Network (DSN), after which its orbit carried it behind Mars. When the probe re-emerged on the opposite side of the planet, telemetry data indicated that it had entered safe mode and began tumbling uncontrollably, resulting in a loss of power. This was stated in a NASA special commission report published in February.
All attempts to re-establish communication with MAVEN after this event were unsuccessful. NASA stated that the causes of the incident, which occurred after the spacecraft passed behind the far side of Mars, are still under investigation.
The end of the MAVEN mission marks more than a decade of scientific research. The spacecraft was launched in November 2013 on a Atlas V rocket by United Launch Alliance and reached Mars orbit ten months later.
Originally, the mission was planned to last only one Earth year, but due to its successful performance it was extended by another ten years. After the loss of MAVEN, only two NASA spacecraft remain operational in Mars orbit: Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched in 2005. Both spacecraft have also significantly exceeded their originally planned operational lifetimes.
MAVEN was one of five spacecraft NASA used as communication relays for rovers on the surface of the Red Planet. The remaining four active relay spacecraft include Odyssey and MRO, as well as the European Space Agency’s Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter.
MAVEN was the first spacecraft equipped with scientific instruments specifically designed to study the evolution of Mars’ atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. The mission provided scientists with data that led to new discoveries even after the orbiter stopped transmitting signals.
“Data collected by the MAVEN spacecraft will continue to provide valuable information about Mars for decades to come,” said NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director Lindsey Prockter.
Read also:
Source: space
