3 June 2026 year, NASA officially announced the completion of a significant space mission, which lasted over 11 years. The first priority of the program was to investigate why Mars, which once had a dense atmosphere and was habitable, turned into a dry and cold desert. The main tool of these studies was MAVEN spacecraft (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), which revolved around Mars with 2014 year. The last signal from him came 6 December.
The special investigation commission found out, that MAVEN suddenly began to rotate around its own axis at a speed of approx 2,7 rpm, although this is not at all provided for by its design. Such atypical behavior led to a critically fast discharge of batteries and a complete loss of power to the communication system. By the end of 2025 year, the team made repeated attempts to restore contact. Specialists tried to forcibly reboot the on-board computer and involved powerful ground-based radio telescopes, but the effort proved futile. In the end, the commission came to a conclusion, that the probe is not recoverable. An official report on the root cause of this anomaly is expected later this year.
The MAVEN mission was the first, which specialized exclusively in the study of the Martian atmosphere. Thanks to the collected data, scientists were able to measure in detail the rate of leakage of Martian air into space. They also found out, how the solar wind destroys the planet's atmosphere. in addition, the probe recorded new types of auroras on Mars and was able to take unique pictures of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
As of today, the loss of the MAVEN probe complicates not only the collection of new scientific data, and communication with rovers on the surface of the planet, because the device served as an important repeater for them. Simultaneously, according to Tiffany Morgan, director of the Mars Research Program, this gap is compensated by other NASA and European Space Agency orbiters,
albeit with a slight delay.
Expected, that MAVEN will remain in Martian orbit from 50 to 100 years. Over time, its orbit will decrease, and it will burn up in the planet's atmosphere, which he studied for so long.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov