NASA's Mars MAVEN probe is dead

Source: Engadget

NASA/Goddard/University of Colorado/Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Mission overview

NASA has officially ended the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, six months after it lost contact with the probe. MAVEN was the agency’s first program dedicated to studying the Martian atmosphere and its evolution. It launched in 2013 from Cape Canaveral and entered Martian orbit nearly a year later in 2014. Although the primary science mission was scheduled for one year, MAVEN spent more than 11 years in orbit, sending back valuable data. NASA also used it as an antenna for the Mars 2020 mission that delivered the Perseverance rover.

Loss of contact

The last signal from MAVEN was received on December 6, 2025, just before the spacecraft passed behind Mars. After re‑emerging, the Deep Space Network failed to detect any transmission. The probe appeared to be in safe mode, rotating at an unusually high rate, which drained its batteries and caused the communications system to lose power.

Anomaly review

NASA formed an anomaly review board in February to assess MAVEN’s condition and explore possible recovery options. The board concluded that the spacecraft could no longer perform scientific observations or relay data to Earth. NASA continues to analyze the data to determine the root cause of the anomaly and plans to publish a report later this year.

Scientific legacy

MAVEN’s observations showed that solar winds and solar storms continuously strip away the Martian atmosphere, contributing to the planet’s transition from potentially habitable to cold and arid. The mission revealed that protons can generate auroras anywhere on Mars—unlike Earth, where auroras are confined to polar regions. MAVEN also helped scientists understand how planet‑wide dust storms facilitate the loss of water molecules to space.