
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
6 U.S. States for Climbing - 2
Israeli strikes on Beirut, as Hezbollah and Iran attack Israel - 3
Turkey’s intel chief lays out country’s vision for Middle East, world - 4
It's your last chance to subscribe to Paramount+ before they raise their prices: Here's how to lock in current pricing - 5
A Pompeii site reveals the recipe for Roman concrete. It contradicts a famous architect’s writings
CDC vaccine panel delays vote to stop recommending hepatitis B shot at birth
Andrew McCarthy's awe-inspiring image of a skydiver in front of the sun
7 Odd Apparatuses to Make Your Party Stick Out!
Bring tissues and skip the mascara: The movie that's making theater-goers sob uncontrollaby
'Set up an Army Radio station at President’s Residence': Source close to Katz slams Herzog
China’s new condom tax will prove no effective barrier to country’s declining fertility rate
When fake data is a good thing – how synthetic data trains AI to solve real problems
Ocean side Objections: Staggering Waterfront Breaks
Ergonomic Office Seats for Work spaces













