NASA has officially concluded its MAVEN mission after more than 11 years orbiting Mars, marking the end of a groundbreaking effort to understand how the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere. The space agency announced on Wednesday, June 3, that recovery efforts following an unexpected loss of contact with the spacecraft in December were unsuccessful, and that MAVEN — which stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution — is no longer capable of carrying out its scientific or communications duties.
One of MAVEN’s final acts was to image 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object discovered in the solar system.
What Was MAVEN?
Launched on Nov. 18, 2013, on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, MAVEN arrived at Mars on Sept. 22, 2014. MAVEN was the first mission dedicated to studying the planet’s upper atmosphere and its evolution. Originally designed for a one-year mission, the spacecraft operated for more than a decade beyond its planned lifespan.
MAVEN Loses Contact With Earth
MAVEN lost contact with Earth on Dec. 6, 2025, and NASA engineers have been unable to contact it since. The spacecraft failed to reestablish communication when it passed behind Mars. According to the agency, telemetry received before the event showed all systems functioning normally. However, subsequent analysis revealed that the spacecraft entered safe mode and began rotating at an unusually high rate as it came back into Earth’s view. NASA eventually concluded that the excessive rotation likely drained MAVEN’s batteries, causing the communications system to lose power.
MAVEN’s Martian Climate Studies
MAVEN’s observations gave scientists new ways to understand how the solar wind and space weather stripped away the planet’s atmosphere over billions of years — transforming Mars from a potentially habitable world into the cold, dry planet seen today. It also revealed that its atmosphere was eroded more quickly during intense solar storms.
“The MAVEN mission has truly advanced our understanding of the Martian atmosphere and evolution,” said Shannon Curry, MAVEN’s principal investigator and a researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Our science team is exceptionally proud of all of these amazing discoveries.”
Aurora On Mars
Among MAVEN’s most notable achievements was the discovery of new types of Martian auroras. Unlike Earth’s proton auroras, which occur mainly near the poles, Mars experiences these atmospheric light displays across much of the planet. MAVEN also studied the effects of a planet-wide dust storm in 2018, confirming that such events can push water vapor higher into the atmosphere and accelerate the loss of water to space.
MAVEN’s Legacy
The spacecraft’s insights will also help future human missions to Mars. “The science MAVEN has given us is key to informing what kind of radiation protection and safety measures we must take before sending humans to Mars,” said Louise Prockter, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The data collected from MAVEN will continue to provide valuable insight into Mars for decades to come.”
It also played a crucial role in NASA’s Mars Relay Network, transmitting data from missions on the surface — such as NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers — back to Earth.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
