KEY FINDINGS
- NASA is now openly pessimistic about the fate of one of its longest-operating Mars spacecraft after more than a month of silence.
- Telemetry analysis suggests the probe is tumbling in space, no longer maintaining its intended orbit or stable communications posture.
- The setback comes shortly after the spacecraft helped capture rare ultraviolet data on 3I/ATLAS, one of only three confirmed interstellar objects ever observed.
The apparent loss of a veteran Mars orbiter follows its role in documenting a rare interstellar visitor, underscoring the risks facing aging deep-space missions.
[USA HERALD] – NASA officials say it is “very unlikely” the agency will be able to recover the MAVEN spacecraft, which has been out of contact since December 6, 2025. The assessment was disclosed by Louise Prockter, director of NASA’s planetary science division, during a January 13 presentation to the Small Bodies Assessment Group in Baltimore, according to publicly released agency remarks.
MAVEN — short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN — launched in 2013 and entered Mars orbit in 2014. Its mission was to study the planet’s upper atmosphere and determine how solar radiation and space weather stripped Mars of much of its original air, transforming it from a warmer, wetter world into the cold, arid planet seen today. Over more than a decade of operations, MAVEN exceeded its primary mission and became a cornerstone of Mars atmospheric science.
NASA reports that MAVEN last communicated with Earth after passing behind Mars as viewed from Earth, a routine orbital alignment that spacecraft regularly survive without incident. When contact was not reestablished, engineers reviewed telemetry gathered during a radio science experiment conducted shortly before the signal loss. That data indicated the spacecraft was tumbling and no longer maintaining its planned orbit, a condition that can disrupt antenna alignment, reduce power generation, and prevent command reception.
Despite repeated attempts to reestablish communications, NASA says none have been successful. The agency has not formally declared the mission ended, but officials now acknowledge that recovery prospects are slim.
The potential loss of MAVEN is drawing particular attention because of the spacecraft’s recent role in observing 3I/ATLAS, a rare interstellar object that passed through the inner solar system in late 2025. Around the time of the object’s closest approach to Mars, MAVEN captured ultraviolet images of 3I/ATLAS, detecting its hydrogen halo — a vast cloud of gas surrounding the object’s nucleus. According to data released by NASA, those ultraviolet measurements allowed scientists to distinguish emissions from the interstellar object against Mars’ own hydrogen corona and the broader interplanetary background.
Other NASA assets also participated in the observation campaign. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used its HiRISE camera to obtain high-resolution views of the object’s coma from tens of millions of kilometers away, while the Perseverance rover spotted 3I/ATLAS as a faint smudge in the Martian sky. Collectively, the effort marked one of the most comprehensive, multi-platform observation campaigns ever conducted on an interstellar visitor.
NASA has emphasized that 3I/ATLAS posed no danger to Mars or its spacecraft. The object passed at a safe distance and continued on its trajectory, reaching perihelion later in October 2025, making its closest approach to Earth in December at roughly 1.8 astronomical units, and now heading toward Jupiter in 2026 before exiting the solar system permanently. The agency has not suggested any causal link between the interstellar object’s passage and MAVEN’s failure.
Still, the timing has sharpened scrutiny of the vulnerabilities inherent in long-duration space missions. MAVEN was operating well beyond its original design life, enduring constant radiation exposure, thermal cycling, and mechanical wear. In such conditions, even a single failure in attitude control or communications hardware can abruptly end an otherwise productive mission.
The apparent loss of MAVEN highlights a growing challenge for planetary science. Many of NASA’s most valuable discoveries now depend on spacecraft operating far past their intended lifespans, often with limited redundancy. As interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS become detectable with increasing frequency, the demand for resilient, long-lived observation platforms will only grow.
MAVEN’s situation also underscores Mars’ emerging role as a forward observation point for solar system science. Assets orbiting or operating on Mars can observe phenomena from perspectives unavailable to Earth-based or near-Earth instruments. The failure of even one such platform can narrow scientific coverage at critical moments.
Whether or not contact with MAVEN is ever restored, the mission’s scientific contributions are secure. Its final months coincided with a once-in-a-generation interstellar encounter, reinforcing both the extraordinary reach of human exploration and the finite limits of the machines that make it possible.
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