
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
An Ideal Getaway - Spots for Solo Travel - 2
Skeleton of famed musketeer possibly found in Dutch church - 3
Apartment Turned Into Nightmare 'Ice Castle' After Tenant Shut Off Heat Causing Pipes to Burst: VIDEO - 4
3 moms, 3 countries, 1 very familiar problem: Why child care costs still don't add up for families - 5
Vote in favor of Your #1 Instructive Toy: Learning and Tomfoolery Joined
The most effective method to Connect Successfully with Teachers in a Web based Setting
The Tiny Channel Island With 65 Residents That Chefs And Foodies Go Out Of Their Way To Visit
Manual for Individual accounting Rudiments for Fledglings
Countdown begins for long-awaited Artemis II moon mission
San Francisco mayor says city in talks to bring pandas back to zoo ahead of trip to Asia
'It's doing badly': Fears grow for whale stuck off Germany's coast
Which Instax Camera Would it be a good idea for you to Purchase?
Nikki Glaser has been testing out Golden Globes jokes. There's one nobody wants to hear
Plans for ‘stop anywhere’ night buses recommended by government for women’s safety













