News Space

NASA declares MAVEN, its Mars atmosphere orbiter, dead

Its loss also strains the aging satellite network that relays data from rovers

NASA's MAVEN orbiter crosses in front of Mars, its twin solar panels spread wide against a star field.

NASA’s MAVEN orbiter (illustrated) studied Mars’ atmosphere for 11 years, finding evidence that the Red Planet lost much of its ancient water to space.

Goddard/NASA, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/Univ. of Colorado

By Lisa Grossman

A veteran spacecraft has sniffed the Martian atmosphere for the last time. More than a decade after the MAVEN orbiter arrived at Mars and six months after it unexpectedly went quiet, NASA has officially declared the mission over.