NASA Says Goodbye to its Longtime Mars MAVEN Mission
The New York Times • • science
Key Points:
- NASA announced the end of the MAVEN mission after more than 11 years of studying Mars' atmosphere to understand the loss of its once-habitable air.
- MAVEN stopped responding after last communicating on December 6, when it began unexpectedly rotating, which drained its batteries and caused a loss of power to its communications system.
- The mission team expressed sadness over the loss but pride in the scientific achievements made during the spacecraft's decade-long operation.
- MAVEN, launched in November 2013 and orbiting Mars since 2014, was NASA's first mission focused on observing the Martian atmosphere and the processes behind atmospheric escape.
- NASA has not disclosed the root cause of the malfunction, with a final report expected later this year.