Specialists are processing fragments of tracking data captured on Dec. 6 during a radio science campaign. That partial signal indicates MAVEN was rotating in an unexpected way after emerging from behind Mars, and suggests its orbit may have shifted from the predicted trajectory. Teams are using these clues to reconstruct the event timeline and narrow down the possible causes of the anomaly.
As part of the investigation, the Curiosity rover team used Mastcam on Dec. 16 and 20 to search the sky along MAVEN's nominal reference orbit. The images did not reveal the orbiter, reinforcing indications that its attitude or orbital path has changed. Further analysis of the tracking data and imaging geometry is underway, but real-time monitoring will pause during the upcoming Mars solar conjunction.
Mars solar conjunction, when the Sun comes between Earth and Mars and disrupts radio links, begins Monday, Dec. 29. During this period, NASA will suspend commanding and communications with all Mars missions until Friday, Jan. 16, to avoid signal degradation and corrupted instructions. Once the conjunction window closes, mission controllers plan to resume systematic efforts to reestablish contact with MAVEN and assess the spacecraft's status.
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