NASA loses contact with Mars probe MAVEN, efforts underway to restore communication

The US space agency NASA has temporarily lost contact with its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, raising concerns about the status of one of its longest-operating missions around the Red Planet. NASA officials said work is underway to re-establish communication with the probe.

According to a NASA spokesperson, no regular data has been received from MAVEN for nearly two weeks. Engineers detected a brief and incomplete signal fragment, which suggests the spacecraft may have rotated in an unexpected manner, potentially disrupting its ability to communicate with Earth.

Launched in November 2013 , MAVEN entered orbit around Mars in September 2014 with the primary objective of studying the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the Sun. The mission has been critical in helping scientists understand how Mars lost much of its atmosphere over billions of years, a process that transformed it from a potentially habitable world into the cold, arid planet seen today.

Over the past decade, MAVEN has delivered valuable data on atmospheric escape, solar wind interactions and space weather around Mars. Its findings have played a key role in shaping current understanding of the planet’s climatic evolution.

NASA engineers are now analysing the spacecraft’s condition and attempting recovery procedures to restore stable contact. While the agency has not yet confirmed the cause of the communication disruption, officials remain cautiously optimistic given the spacecraft’s long operational history.

MAVEN is part of a broader fleet of active NASA missions to Mars. The agency continues to operate the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in orbit, along with the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers exploring the planet’s surface.

NASA said it will provide further updates as recovery efforts continue and more information becomes available.