After a month of no answer, NASA will try hailing its silent MAVEN Mars orbiter today – Space

Lead

NASA will resume active attempts to contact the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, MAVEN, on Jan. 16 after a solar conjunction paused communications. The orbiter went silent after passing behind Mars on Dec. 6 and has not responded since, despite repeated contact efforts and imaging tries from the surface. Telemetry before the blackout showed nominal systems, but later tracking fragments suggested the spacecraft emerged on an unexpected trajectory and may have been rotating. Mission managers say recovery is uncertain but will begin renewed hailing when the Sun no longer lies between Earth and Mars.

Key Takeaways

• Contact lost with MAVEN on Dec. 6 when the spacecraft passed behind Mars and failed to reestablish link thereafter.
• Telemetry before the Dec. 6 blackout indicated all onboard systems were operating normally, according to a Dec. 9 NASA update.
• Analysis of tracking data on Dec. 15 suggested MAVEN was rotating unexpectedly and out of its planned orbit after emerging from behind Mars.
• Curiosity attempted two imaging passes by Dec. 23 but did not detect MAVEN during expected overflights.
• Communications with Mars missions were paused on Dec. 29 for solar conjunction and scheduled to resume on Jan. 16.
• MAVEN entered Mars orbit in Sep. 2014 after a Nov. 2013 launch and marked its 10th anniversary in Sep. 2024.
• The spacecraft has fuel to remain in orbit through at least 2030 and was extended formally through Sep. 2025.
• MAVEN also serves as a critical communications relay for rovers and other missions, increasing the operational impact of its silence.

Background

MAVEN was launched in November 2013 and arrived at Mars in September 2014 with a primary mission planned for one year. Over the following decade the orbiter produced key findings on atmospheric escape, dust storms, auroras, and solar wind interaction, while also providing relay services for surface assets such as Curiosity and Perseverance. The mission was extended multiple times and formally through September 2025, and managers report it carries enough propellant for operations through at least 2030.

Mission operations around Mars routinely pause during solar conjunctions, when the Sun lies near the Earth Mars line and charged solar particles can corrupt uplinked commands or downlinked telemetry. Controllers therefore suspend two way communications to avoid sending partial commands that could put spacecraft into unsafe states. MAVEN’s most recent loss of contact coincided with a routine occultation behind Mars on December 6, a predictable event that normally ends when the orbiter returns to view.

Main Event

On Dec. 6 MAVEN passed behind Mars and was expected to resume normal operations once the planet cleared the line of sight. Initial telemetry transmitted before the blackout showed nominal health, yet when the Deep Space Network attempted to reestablish contact after emergence those attempts failed. NASA recovered a fragment of tracking data that by Dec. 15 indicated the spacecraft was rotating in an unexpected manner and had shifted from its planned orbital parameters.

Between Dec. 6 and Dec. 23 mission teams repeatedly tried to reach the orbiter using the Deep Space Network and other assets. The Curiosity rover was tasked to image MAVEN during predicted overhead passes on two occasions but did not detect the vehicle. As a precaution during the ensuing solar conjunction that started Dec. 29, NASA halted all routine Mars uplinks and scheduled a restart of contact attempts for Jan. 16.

Throughout late December and early January teams evaluated the orbiter’s recent engineering history, including a notable three month safe mode event in 2022 tied to inertial measurement unit failures. Managers also reviewed contingency navigation modes developed to reduce dependence on aging sensors, and they adjusted surface mission schedules to rely more heavily on other orbiters while MAVEN remained silent.

Analysis & Implications

If MAVEN remains unresponsive, the immediate operational consequence will be a heavier relay load on surviving orbiters including Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, and the European Space Agency orbiters ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express. NASA has already begun altering daily rover plans and scheduling additional relay passes to compensate, but the distribution of relay traffic may reduce bandwidth and flexibility for surface science and for time sensitive activities.

Scientifically, losing MAVEN would remove a long-running platform for upper atmosphere studies and solar wind interaction at Mars, reducing the temporal continuity of observations that have been critical to understanding atmospheric loss processes. MAVEN’s decade of data has informed models of how Mars transitioned from a thicker atmosphere to the thin envelope observed today, so a permanent loss would create a gap in ongoing long baseline measurements.

There are programmatic ripple effects as well. MAVEN was slated to support communications for the Mars Sample Return architecture and other future campaigns, so an unresolved outage increases risk and complexity for those endeavours. Program managers must weigh extended operations for remaining assets or accelerated development of alternative relay strategies, both of which carry cost and schedule implications.

Comparison & Data

The table shows MAVEN as a primary science and relay node among a fleet of aging but capable spacecraft. Controllers must balance orbit geometry, antenna availability and bandwidth demands across this heterogeneous set to sustain surface missions if MAVEN remains offline.

Reactions & Quotes

Mission leadership and external observers have expressed guarded realism about recovery prospects and emphasized contingency planning for surface operations.

it is looking very unlikely that we are going to be able to recover the spacecraft

Louise Prockter, Director NASA Planetary Science Division at Small Bodies Assessment Group meeting reported by SpaceNews

The comment by the division director came during a Jan. 13 meeting and reflects a cautious tone from NASA management as teams prepare for renewed contact attempts while planning for diminished relay capacity.

all systems were operating normally in the telemetry received before the blackout

NASA status update, Dec. 9

NASA emphasized that the last continuous telemetry before the Dec. 6 occultation indicated nominal health, a fact that narrows the window of events to the period when the spacecraft passed behind Mars and reemerged.

Unconfirmed

• Exact cause of MAVENs post occultation rotation remains unverified pending telemetry recovery or further tracking analysis.
• Whether Curiosity imaging definitively ruled out a candidate overflight detection is not fully public and remains subject to follow up verification.
• The degree to which MAVENs loss would alter the schedule or viability of the Mars Sample Return campaign has been discussed but not confirmed as a trigger for cancellation.

Bottom Line

NASA will begin renewed attempts to contact MAVEN on Jan. 16 after the solar conjunction window closes. The agency retains overlapping relay assets and has already adjusted surface operations to mitigate the immediate impact, but a permanent loss of MAVEN would reduce both relay capacity and a unique long term science platform for Mars upper atmosphere studies.

Observers should watch for any recovered telemetry fragments, Doppler or tracking updates that clarify the spacecrafts attitude and orbit, and official NASA status reports in the hours and days after the resumption of communications. The outcome will shape near term operations for Curiosity and Perseverance and influence planning for future Mars relay and sample return activities.

Sources

• Space.com article reporting the timeline and recovery efforts — media report
• NASA MAVEN mission page — official mission page and status statements