NASA has lost contact with one of its longtime Mars workhorses after the spacecraft abruptly stopped communicating. Maven was working before it went behind the red planet, but when it reappeared, there was silence, NASA said. The orbiter has spent more than a decade studying the Martian upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. That research helped scientists conclude that the sun drove most of the planet’s atmosphere into space over time, shifting Mars from a warm, wet world to a cold and arid one. The spacecraft, launched in 2013 and in orbit the following year, has also been a key communications relay for NASA’s rovers Curiosity and Perseverance. Engineering teams are investigating the loss of contact. NASA still has two active spacecraft circling Mars—the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005, and Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001—while work continues to reestablish communication with Maven.
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