NASA Has Some Very Bad News About Its Mars Spacecraft
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, which has been studying Mars’ upper atmosphere for over a decade, went offline on December 6 and failed to send expected telemetry signals back to Earth.
- The spacecraft was observed to be “rotating in an unexpected manner” after emerging from behind Mars, and despite ongoing efforts, NASA has been unable to reestablish contact.
- NASA planetary science director Louise Prockter stated that it is “very unlikely” that MAVEN will be recovered, though the end of Mars’ solar conjunction on January 16 may provide a new opportunity to regain communication.
- Attempts to locate MAVEN, including using the Curiosity rover’s Mastcam instrument, have been unsuccessful, but other Mars orbiters remain operational
