NASA Ends MAVEN Mars Mission After Losing Contact With Spacecraft
LOS ANGELES — NASA has formally ended its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission after losing contact with the spacecraft in December, bringing a close to more than a decade of operations around the Red Planet.
The mission, known as MAVEN, was NASA’s first dedicated effort to study the Martian atmosphere and how it evolved over time.
The spacecraft launched Nov. 18, 2013, and entered orbit around Mars on Sept. 21, 2014. Although it was originally designed for a one-year primary mission, MAVEN operated for more than 11 years and exceeded its planned mission life by more than a decade, NASA said.
The spacecraft was last heard from on Dec. 6, 2025, when it experienced an unexpected loss of signal after passing behind Mars.
NASA convened an anomaly review board in February to evaluate recovery efforts and assess the condition of the spacecraft. The board determined that MAVEN is not recoverable and is no longer capable of carrying out its science and data relay mission, the agency said Wednesday.
Preliminary findings suggest the spacecraft entered a high-rate rotation after passing behind Mars, disrupting its orbit trajectory and eventually draining its batteries. The resulting power loss affected the communications system, leaving MAVEN unable to contact Earth.
NASA said the root cause of the anomaly remains under investigation, with a final report expected later this year.
The agency has begun the formal process of decommissioning the mission and will archive the full mission dataset for scientists and exploration teams.
“The science MAVEN has given us is key to informing what kind of radiation protection and safety measures we must take before sending humans to Mars,” said Louise Prockter, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. (Source: IANS)
