NASA is saying goodbye to one of its most accomplished Mars orbiters.
After months of repeated attempts to reestablish contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) satellite, NASA has declared the Red Planet probe dead. MAVEN's last transmission was received on Dec. 6, by NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN), before the solar-powered spacecraft's orbit took it behind Mars. When it emerged on the other side, telemetry data showed the satellite had switched to safe mode and was tumbling in an uncontrollable spin that led to a loss of power, according to a NASA review board in February.
Efforts to communicate with MAVEN since then have been unsuccessful, and NASA officials plan to hold a press briefing at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) today (June 3), to discuss the end of MAVEN's mission, according to an agency release. The cause of the satellite's incident beyond Mars' far side is still under investigation.
The announcement of MAVEN's end brings a close to more than a decade of science and research. MAVEN launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November 2013 and arrived in orbit around Mars 10 months later.
Its original mission was planned to last just one Earth year, but was extended for another 10 as it continued nominal operations. MAVEN's loss leaves only two NASA probes in operation in Mars orbit — the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which launched in 2001, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which lifted off in 2005. Both of those probes are also operating well beyond their original mission lifetimes.
MAVEN was also one of five spacecraft that NASA used as a communications relay for rovers on the Martian surface. The other four, which remain active, are Odyssey, MRO and Europe's Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft.
MAVEN was the first probe equipped with instrumentation to study the evolution of Mars' atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. The mission supplied data that led scientists to new discoveries, even after the orbiter fell silent.
“The data collected from MAVEN will continue to provide valuable insight into Mars for decades to come,” said Louise Prockter, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, in the agency's announcement.
NASA will stream audio to today's press briefing on the agency's website, which will also be made available at the top of this story.
