NASA Concludes MAVEN Mission After Six Months of Silence

NASA announced on Wednesday that it will formally end the MAVEN mission, which has been studying the Martian atmosphere and its evolution since the spacecraft entered orbit in 2014.

Originally planned for a one‑ to two‑year operation, MAVEN exceeded expectations by remaining functional for over a decade before losing contact with Earth in December 2025.

Following six months of silence, the agency now accepts that the probe, still likely orbiting Mars, is lost and will investigate the cause of the communication failure.

Dr. Shannon Curry, an astrophysics professor involved with the mission, described MAVEN as “the best Mars mission ever.” She explained that the spacecraft greatly advanced understanding of atmospheric escape—the process by which gases are lost to space—making Mars an invaluable natural laboratory for studying rocky‑planet atmospheres.

“We now have a better understanding of atmospheric escape at Mars than at any other planet, including Earth,” Curry said.

NASA exploration program chief Tiffany Morgan added that MAVEN “profoundly advanced our knowledge of Mars’s atmosphere, climate history, and habitability.”

The orbiter also served as a communications relay for surface robots, a role that will now need to be taken over by other Mars orbiters.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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