NASA ends MAVEN Mars orbiter mission after spacecraft goes silent behind the planet
By
William Harwood
Master baker tier. Every paragraph earns its place on the tray.
Summary
NASA has declared the end of the MAVEN orbiter's mission after the spacecraft went silent six months ago while passing behind Mars. The $582 million probe, which studied how solar wind affects the Martian atmosphere, was working normally before losing contact during a 20-30 minute pass behind the red planet. Despite concerted remote recovery efforts, NASA could not re-establish communication with the spacecraft, bringing its extraordinarily successful mission to a close.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledNASA officials said the $582 million MAVEN orbiter could not be recovered after a problem on the far side of Mars late last year
As it passed behind Mars six months ago, NASA's MAVEN probe was still working normally, studying how the solar wind impacts the Martian atmosphere
During that 20- to 30-minute pass behind the red planet, out of contact with Earth, something went wrong, and the spacecraft has not been heard from since
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