MAVEN Joins Mars' Orbital Graveyard as NASA Bids Farewell to Atmospheric Explorer
TL;DR
NASA's MAVEN orbiter, which studied the Red Planet's atmosphere for nearly a decade, has been declared dead and now joins Mars' orbital graveyard. Its planned end-state would have left it in orbit for 50–100 years before eventual re-entry, and MAVEN's findings clarified how the solar wind stripped Mars' atmosphere billions of years ago. With MAVEN gone, only a handful of Mars orbiters remain active (Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, MRO, TGO, Hope, Tianwen‑1), while on the surface only Curiosity and Perseverance remain operational.
- NASA's dead Mars orbiter MAVEN will crash into the Red Planet in the next 100 years. It's not the only probe in the Mars morgue Space
- NASA declares end of mission for long-lasting Mars orbiter CBS News
- NASA Says Farewell to MAVEN Mars Mission, Hosts Media Call Today NASA (.gov)
- 'In an unrecoverable state': NASA confirms MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead after orbital 'anomaly' behind Mars Yahoo
- NASA Says Goodbye to its Longtime Mars MAVEN Mission The New York Times
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