
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
Top 20 Style Brands for Pioneers - 2
'Everyone in this prison has had family killed or shot' - 3
The Most Compelling Books of the 10 years - 4
Tehran synagogue damaged by missile strike according to Iranian media - 5
Wellness Bits of knowledge Readily available: A Survey of \Following Wellbeing and Progress\ Wellness Wearables
Germany's Deutsche Welle broadcaster declared 'undesirable' in Russia
Pick Your Favored kind of sandwich
Burger King launches 'SpongeBob' menu ahead of film's release. A look at the Bikini Bottom-inspired meal, plus what taste testers are saying.
How the Iran war may affect your money and bills
Pick Your Number one breakfast food
Aluminum salts emerge as likely target as health officials scrutinize childhood vaccines
Step in Style: A Survey of \Solace and Execution on the Track\ Running Shoes
It Shouldn’t Be Here: Rescuers Race to Save Whale Stranded in Rare Spot
Record-breaking flu hospitalizations in New York in a single week: Health officials












