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NASA Declares End of MAVEN Mars Orbiter Mission After Communication Loss

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NASA Declares End of MAVEN Mars Mission After Mysterious Failure

"The spacecraft is not recoverable and cannot perform its science or communications functions."
— Anomaly Review Board Conclusion

NASA has formally concluded the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission after losing contact with the spacecraft in December 2024. An anomaly review board determined the orbiter is not recoverable. The root cause remains under investigation, with a final report expected later in 2025.

Timeline of Events

  • December 6, 2024: MAVEN passed behind Mars during a routine occultation. Telemetry received before the event indicated all subsystems were operating normally. After the spacecraft emerged, NASA's Deep Space Network detected no signal.

  • December 12, 2024: NASA reported that data fragments from a radio science campaign suggested MAVEN had entered safe mode and was rotating at an unusually high rate, estimated at 2.7 revolutions per minute.

  • December 23, 2024: NASA stated it was continuing efforts to recontact the spacecraft.

  • December 29, 2024 to January 16, 2025: A planned communications blackout occurred due to solar conjunction, when Mars and Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun.

  • January 13, 2025: Louise Prockter, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, stated that recovery of the orbiter was "very unlikely."

  • January 16, 2025: NASA resumed attempts to reestablish contact after the solar conjunction period concluded.

  • February 2025: An anomaly review board was convened to investigate the incident.

  • June 3, 2026: NASA officially declared the mission ended. A press briefing was held to discuss the conclusion.

Investigation Findings

The anomaly review board determined that after emerging from behind Mars, the spacecraft entered safe mode with an abnormally high rotation rate. This rotation likely drained the spacecraft's batteries, cutting power to the communications system.

Multiple attempts to reestablish contact, including using the Mastcam instrument on the Curiosity rover to image MAVEN, were unsuccessful. The review board did not identify a root cause for the anomaly.

Mission History and Background

MAVEN launched on November 18, 2013, aboard an Atlas V rocket and entered orbit around Mars on September 22, 2014. It was the first mission dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and atmospheric loss due to interactions with the solar wind.

The primary mission was designed for one Earth year but was extended multiple times, totaling over 11 years of operations. The spacecraft had sufficient fuel to remain in orbit until at least 2030, and its mission was formally extended through September 2025.

MAVEN experienced past technical issues, including a three-month period in safe mode in 2022 due to problems with its inertial measurement units.

In addition to its scientific role, MAVEN served as a communications relay for Mars surface missions, including NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. It held the record for the most data relayed from another planet in a single day.

Key Scientific Findings

MAVEN's science team produced over 800 scientific publications. Key findings include:

Atmospheric Erosion

Measured increased atmospheric loss during solar storms and confirmed that solar wind strips away Mars' atmosphere, contributing to the planet's transition from a potentially habitable climate to a cold, arid environment.

Auroras

Discovered multiple types of Martian auroras, including proton auroras that occur across the entire planet, unlike on Earth where they are confined to polar regions.

Atmospheric Sputtering

Made the first direct observation of atmospheric sputtering at any planet, confirming argon loss through charged particles knocking neutral atoms out of the atmosphere.

Dust Storms

Studied the effect of the 2018 global dust storm on water loss into space.

Comet Observation

Observed comet 3I/ATLAS in 2024, providing ultraviolet images for composition analysis.

Status

NASA has initiated formal decommissioning of the spacecraft and will archive the full mission dataset. No further attempts to contact MAVEN will be made. The spacecraft is expected to remain in its current orbit for 50 to 100 years before naturally decaying into the Martian atmosphere.

With MAVEN's loss, NASA has two active orbiters at Mars: Mars Odyssey (launched 2001) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (launched 2005). Other operational orbiters include Mars Express (ESA), ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (ESA), Emirates Mars Mission/Hope (UAE), and Tianwen-1 (China).

Statements

Louise Prockter, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters: Stated that MAVEN's data will inform radiation protection for future human missions to Mars.

Shannon Curry, MAVEN principal investigator at the University of Colorado Boulder: Stated that the dataset advanced understanding of the Martian atmosphere and evolution.

Mike Moreau, MAVEN project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center: Reported that all subsystems were nominal before the occultation and that the current status aligns with the planned end-of-life scenario for the spacecraft.