NASA Temporarily Loses Contact with MAVEN Probe

NASA has temporarily lost contact with the MAVEN probe in Mars orbit. the probe has experienced technical problems previously, but this signal loss was unexpected.

Several satellites from various countries and space agencies orbit the red planet. These serve both for Mars research and as relay stations, transmitting data from the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers back to Earth.

One of these probes has paused. NASA announced it lost contact with MAVEN on December 6.According to the agency, all systems on board were functioning normally when MAVEN passed behind Mars; though, when it became “visible” from Earth again, no signal was received.

DSN Fails to Detect Signal

NASA maintains contact with distant spacecraft using the Deep Space Network (DSN), located in California, near Canberra, Australia, and near Madrid, Spain (see map).

Each site features giant radio telescopes that receive and transmit signals. You can even monitor which probe is currently being contacted on the NASA website: DSN Now. The global distribution of stations ensures at least one can maintain contact with its target at all times.