[NASA REPORTS]

Artist’s concept of NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft at Mars. The spacecraft entered orbit around the planet in 2014 and has completed over eleven years of observing the Martian upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Red Planet's atmosphere to space. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Colorado/Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

The first mission devoted to observing the Martian atmosphere and its evolution, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), has ended after more than 11 years in orbit at Mars and a decade beyond its primary, one-year mission. The spacecraft was heard last on Dec. 6, when it experienced an unexpected loss of signal after it passed behind the Red Planet.

NASA will host a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT today, Wednesday, June 3, to discuss MAVEN’s achievements.

The agency convened an anomaly review board in February to evaluate recovery efforts and assess the spacecraft’s probable current state. The review board has determined that the MAVEN spacecraft is not recoverable, and it is no longer capable of performing its science and data relay mission, which is consistent with the mission team’s findings.

Telemetry from MAVEN prior to the spacecraft’s passage behind Mars in December showed all subsystems working normally. After the spacecraft emerged, NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) did not observe a signal. A brief fragment of telemetry data from analysis of radio signals recorded by the DSN’s open-loop receivers indicated the spacecraft was in safe mode and rotating at an unusually high rate when it emerged from behind Mars, indicating a disruption in MAVEN’s orbit trajectory. The review board concluded that due to this rotation, the batteries on the spacecraft had drained, causing the communications system to lose power and rendering MAVEN in an unrecoverable state.

These preliminary findings do not address a potential root cause for the anomaly, which still is being investigated. The review board is expected to provide its final report later this year. NASA has begun the official process of decommissioning the MAVEN mission, following standard procedures to archive the full mission dataset for the science and exploration communities.

“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.”

Launched in November 2013, the MAVEN mission explored the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space. Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of the planet’s atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability.

“The MAVEN mission has truly advanced our understanding of the Martian atmosphere and evolution. This dataset has had a tremendous impact on the field,” 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.”

Sun’s impact on Mars

One of MAVEN’s first major results was that the erosion of Mars’ atmosphere increases significantly during solar storms. The team studied how the solar wind, which is a stream of charged particles continually streaming from the Sun, and solar storms continually strip away Mars’ atmosphere, as well as how this process played a key role in altering the Martian climate from a potentially habitable world to today’s cold, arid planet. The MAVEN mission made unprecedented strides in advancing our understanding of how the Sun and space weather affect Mars, as it was the only spacecraft that could simultaneously take measurements of both the Sun and the Martian atmospheric response.

Martian light shows

The MAVEN mission discovered several types of auroras that light up when energetic particles plunge into the atmosphere, bombarding gases and making them glow. The MAVEN team showed that protons create new kinds of auroras at Mars. On Earth, proton auroras only occur in very small regions near the poles, whereas at Mars they can occur everywhere.

Mars’ atmosphere sputters into space

To better understand how Mars lost most of its atmosphere, MAVEN measured atmospheric sputtering for the first time at any planet. The team did this by observing argon, which is a noble gas, meaning it rarely reacts with other constituents in the Martian atmosphere. The only significant way it can be removed is by atmospheric sputtering, a process where ions crash into the Martian atmosphere at high enough speeds that they splash gas molecules out of the atmosphere, much like doing a cannonball into a pool. The team used 11 years of data to reveal the presence of sputtered argon at high altitudes in the exact locations that the energetic particles crashed into the atmosphere, showing sputtering in real time.

Understanding Mars’ dusty secrets

In 2018, a series of dust storms created a dust cloud so large that it enveloped the Red Planet. The MAVEN team studied how this “global” dust storm affected Mars’ upper atmosphere to understand how these events affected the escape of water to space. It confirmed that heating from dust storms can loft water molecules far higher into the atmosphere than usual, leading to a sudden surge in water lost to space.

Chasing comets

In addition to Martian science, MAVEN contributed to NASA’s effort to observe comet 3I/ATLAS at Mars. Over the course of 10 days last year, the MAVEN team designed a new observing campaign to capture 3I/ATLAS by taking multiple images of the comet in several wavelengths, much like using various filters on a camera. Then it snapped high-resolution UV images to identify the hydrogen coming from the comet. By studying a combination of these images, scientists can identify a variety of molecules and better understand the comet’s composition and history.

During the mission’s lifetime, MAVEN’s science team produced more than 800 publications, and additional publications are planned.

In addition to science, the MAVEN spacecraft was an instrumental player in NASA’s Mars Relay Network, communicating data from Mars rovers to Earth. It also holds the solar system record for most data relayed from another planet in a single day.

Audio of today’s media teleconference will stream on the agency’s website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants in the teleconference include:

Tiffany Morgan, director, Mars Exploration Program, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
Mike Moreau, project manager, MAVEN, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Greg Heckler, deputy program manager for Capability Development, SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation), NASA Headquarters
Shannon Curry, MAVEN principal investigator, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder

To ask questions by phone, media must RSVP no later than 12 p.m. to: sarah.frazier@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

The MAVEN mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. The mission’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, which also is responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support.

For more information about NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/mars-exploration/

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Contact

Karen Fox / Alana Johnson

Headquarters, Washington

240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780

karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov

Sarah Frazier

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

202-853-7191

sarah.frazier@nasa.gov

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What's New at the Earth Observatory June 2, 2026

2026-06-02T08:30:56Z

March 3, 2026

Weekly News

Latest Images of the Day

View the Image of the Day archive

Fire’s Footprint on Santa Rosa Island

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Gravity Waves From Super Typhoon Sinlaku

Satellites observed striking upper-atmosphere phenomena generated by an intensifying tropical cyclone.

Painting the Growing Season in the Maize Triangle

Radar data from an agricultural area in South Africa, shown in a vivid color palette, reveal crop types and how they changed during the Southern Hemisphere's growing season.

A Shift in What’s Shaping U.S. Landscapes

Wild disturbances are on the rise, while land disturbed by human activity has been decreasing.

Ever Restless Mount Dukono Erupts

The volcano on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island routinely ejects ash, volcanic gases, and volcanic bombs.

Spotlight on: El Niño

NASA-European Sea Level Mission Homes in on El Niño

Sea level data from a satellite launched by NASA and European partners shows that a swell of warm water hundreds of miles wide has arrived in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America, a sign that El Niño will likely emerge later in the year.

What is an El Niño?

If you want to understand how interconnected our planet is—how patterns and events in one place can affect life half a world away—study El Niño.

Daily Natural Event Updates June 2, 2026

2026-06-02T07:45:52Z

June 2, 2026

Natural Events

Latest Natural Event Images

View the natural events archive

Fire’s Footprint on Santa Rosa Island

A wildland fire charred grassland, coastal sage scrub, and chaparral across one-third of the island, the second largest of the Channel Islands.

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NASA Invites Media to See Roman Space Telescope Arrive at Kennedy

2026-06-01T15:01:41Z

NASA News

MEDIA ADVISORY M26-042

JUNE 1, 2026

SCIENCE

NASA Invites Media to See Roman Space Telescope Arrive at Kennedy

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands complete in the largest clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. With its deep, sweeping views of the universe, Roman will observe billions of cosmic objects to explore fundamental questions about dark energy and planets outside our solar system. Credit: NASA/Scott Wiessinger

Registration is open for media to cover the arrival of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the coming weeks.

The observatory will arrive aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where teams completed its construction, assembly, and testing. Credentialed media will be able to witness the arrival and unloading of the space telescope in its transport container at NASA Kennedy’s turn basin. From there, technicians will move the telescope to the center’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility for launch processing.

NASA subject matter experts will be available on site to answer questions about the arrival.

Media interested in participating must apply for credentials at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

To receive credentials, media must apply by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 4. This opportunity is open to U.S. citizens only.

Once approved, credentialed media will receive a confirmation email. Additional information, including the specific date of arrival activities, will follow. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation, please email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, please contact Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468.

Named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have a deep, panoramic view of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. The observatory will usher in a new era of cosmic surveys, unveiling troves of celestial objects, and shedding light on some of the universe’s most profound mysteries, including phenomena we can’t see. Roman also will showcase a test of the most advanced technology ever flown in space to directly image planets around nearby stars, a key step in NASA’s search for life on other worlds.

The Roman telescope is managed at NASA Goddard with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and a science team of scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems Inc., L3Harris Technologies, and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging. Contributions to Roman also are made by ESA (European Space Agency), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany.

The agency’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Roman Space Telescope, which will lift off as soon as early September on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A.

For more information about NASA’s Roman telescope, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/roman

-end-

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Contact

Karen Fox / Alise Fisher

Headquarters, Washington

202-385-1287 / 202-358-2546

karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

Leejay Lockhart / Danielle Sempsrott

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

321-747-8310 / 321-298-8990

leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov

Claire Andreoli

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

301-286-1940

claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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Daily Natural Event Updates June 1, 2026

2026-06-01T09:23:49Z

June 1, 2026

Natural Events

Latest Natural Event Images

View the natural events archive

Gravity Waves From Super Typhoon Sinlaku

Satellites observed striking upper-atmosphere phenomena generated by an intensifying tropical cyclone.

NASA Earth Observatory

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Visit science.nasa.gov/earth/earth -observatory

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NASA Awards Contract for Johnson Space Center Infrastructure

2026-05-29T14:45:53Z

NASA News

CONTRACT RELEASE C26-005

MAY 29, 2026

MISSIONS

NASA Awards Contract for Johnson Space Center Infrastructure

Credit: NASA

NASA has selected seven companies to provide construction, revitalization, and infrastructure improvements at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Johnson Space Center Multiple Award Construction Contract supports up to $300 million in upgrades to mission‑support facilities, utilities, and equipment across the NASA Johnson campus. All funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2026.

The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award enables rapid execution of facility projects essential to sustaining astronaut crew training, engineering development, and mission readiness. Task orders will be competed among awardees to ensure fair opportunity and best value to the government.

Contract awardees are:

Coho Construction Management, LLC
Conti Federal Services, LLC
Healtheon, Inc.
HITT Contracting, Inc.
Ross Group Construction Corporation, LLC
Energy EPC Solutions, LLC, doing business as S&B Services
Sauer Construction, LLC

For more information about NASA and its missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

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Contact

Jennifer Dooren / Jessica Taveau

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1600

jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / jessica.c.taveau@nasa.gov

Chelsey Ballarte

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.

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NASA Hosts SpaceX Crew-11 Astronauts for Public Event at Headquarters

2026-05-29T14:27:29Z

NASA News

MEDIA ADVISORY M26-043

MAY 29, 2026

NASA Hosts SpaceX Crew-11 Astronauts for Public Event at Headquarters

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Credit: NASA

NASA will host a public event featuring three crew members from the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission at 11 a.m. EDT Monday, June 1. The event, which takes place during the crew’s standard postflight visit, will be held in the Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson building, 300 E. Street SW in Washington.

The crew members, including NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, will discuss their recent 167-day mission aboard the International Space Station, where they conducted a wide range of science experiments to benefit life on Earth and advance human space exploration as part of International Space Station Expedition 73/74.

The Crew-11 mission lifted off on Aug.1, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost on Aug. 2.

During their mission, the three astronauts, along with crewmate Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, traveled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2,670 orbits around Earth. The Crew-11 mission was Fincke’s fourth spaceflight, Yui’s second, and the first for Cardman and Platonov. Fincke has logged 549 days in space, ranking him fourth among all NASA astronauts for cumulative days in space. The crew members returned to Earth on Jan. 15, splashing down off the coast of San Diego.

Along the way, Crew-11 logged hundreds of hours of research, maintenance, and technology demonstrations. The crew members also celebrated the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory on Nov. 2, 2025. Research conducted aboard the space station advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Media interested in attending the event must RSVP by 8 a.m., June 1, by emailing the NASA Headquarters newsroom at hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. Based on the crew’s schedule, NASA will not be able to accommodate interviews.

This opportunity also is part of NASA’s Frontiers Forum: Voices Shaping the Future of Space speaking series designed to convene bold thinkers and senior leaders at the forefront of exploration and innovation. The series will spotlight mission-critical priorities from advancing the Artemis campaign and strengthening commercial partnerships to shaping the future workforce and accelerating breakthrough technologies. The agency will share more details soon.

To learn more about the International Space Station and its research and crews, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/station/

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