
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
'The best gift ever': Baby is born after the rarest of pregnancies, defying all odds - 2
I tried a macho, creatine-loaded cereal “for men.” Did I mention I'm a woman? - 3
Popular Japanese Hotel Chain Now Lets You Show Up With Just Your Passport - 4
Instructions to Warmly greet Certainty and Appeal - 5
Electric discovery on Mars! Scientists find tiny lightning bolts coming from Red Planet dust clouds
MacArthur Foundation awards $100M to outbreak surveillance network, a boost amid global health cuts
Moon memorial: Artemis 2 astronauts name lunar 'bright spot' after mission commander's late wife
Aspirin can prevent a serious pregnancy complication — but too few women get it, new report suggests
The Response to Self-improvement: Embracing a Development Outlook
Merz: 80% of Syrians in Germany should return in three years
The Job of a Migration Legal advisor: How They Can Help You
Heading to Florida for NASA's Artemis 2 moon launch? Here's what to know before you go
The Beginning Of The End For Fossil Fuels Can Start In Colombia
The 1st full moon of 2026 rises tonight! Here's what to expect from January's supermoon Wolf Moon













