The American space agency NASA has announced attempts to restore contact with the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft, which studies the atmosphere of Mars. While in orbit around the Red Planet, the station lost contact with Earth.
According to information received from NASA, all systems of MAVEN were functioning normally before entering orbit around the Red Planet. However, after the spacecraft crossed the dark side of Mars on December 6, no signal was detected by the deep space network.
"The MAVEN spacecraft, which is in orbit around Mars, lost contact with ground stations on December 6... Currently, the spacecraft and operational teams are analyzing the anomaly that has occurred to resolve it," the statement on NASA's official website said.
The MAVEN mission is aimed at studying the upper layers of Mars' atmosphere and ionosphere, as well as investigating their interaction with the solar wind. This will help understand how the planet lost its atmosphere, which, in turn, will give scientists insight into the climate, the presence of water, and the potential for life on the Red Planet.
