NASA ends MAVEN Mars orbiter mission after December communication failure
Key takeaways
- Add ARY News on Google AAResize NASA has officially concluded a Mars mission that has been out of contact for six months, while investigations into the spacecraft’s unexpected failure continue.
- On June 3, NASA announced that the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission would come to an end after a review board determined that the orbiter was in an unrecoverable state following a December anomaly.
- Controllers last received a signal from MAVEN on December 6, when the spacecraft was functioning normally as it passed behind Mars.
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
Add ARY News on Google AAResize NASA has officially concluded a Mars mission that has been out of contact for six months, while investigations into the spacecraft’s unexpected failure continue.
On June 3, NASA announced that the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission would come to an end after a review board determined that the orbiter was in an unrecoverable state following a December anomaly.
Controllers last received a signal from MAVEN on December 6, when the spacecraft was functioning normally as it passed behind Mars. However, when it reemerged about 30 minutes later, NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) was unable to detect any transmissions.