9 December 2025 year NASA reported, what 3 contact with MAVEN was lost days ago (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN), which is in orbit around Mars. The latest telemetry data showed normal operation of the device before that, as he passed beyond Mars from Earth's point of view, but after leaving the planet, the connection was never restored. The mission team is currently analyzing the data they have and trying to understand, which caused the incident.
The mission was launched in 2013 year. Its main task was to study the upper layers of the planet's atmosphere, its interaction with the solar wind and the processes of moving the atmosphere into space. Understanding the reasons for this helps scientists understand, how Mars has changed since the early ages, when it had a thick atmosphere and liquid water on the surface. MAVEN successfully performed this task and demonstrated, that Mars loses approx 100 grams of atmosphere. This figure increases significantly during powerful solar flares. The apparatus was also used to study auroras and comets, that were approaching Mars, and played an important role as a communication relay: with the help of a UHF antenna, it connected the Curiosity rovers
and Perseverance with the Deep Space Network.
There have been technical issues with MAVEN in the past, primarily with inertial measuring units (IMU), used for orientation. IN 2022 year, the device was transferred to a fully star navigation system, to minimize IMU usage.
MAVEN's fuel supply is sufficient, to maintain orbit at least until the end of the decade. However, in NASA's budget request for 2026 the fiscal year of mission funding is completely zeroed out (in 2024 its operation cost per year $22,6 million). MAVEN is on the mission list, which have "significantly exceeded the deadline of the main program" and are subject to completion, despite its critical role as a relay for rovers.
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