NASA Loses Contact With Mars Missions As Red Planet Goes Dark

Space agencies in the U.S., Europe and China have temprarily lost contact with a vast fleet of spacecraft at Mars. That includes three rovers, one helicopter and seven orbiters.

The cause is what astronomers call the solar conjunction of Mars, where the red planet is on the opposite side of the sun to Earth. It also sees the red planet at its farthest point from Earth—about 234 million miles (376 million kilometers) distant.

On the exact date of the Mars solar conjunction—November 17/18—no messages will be sent. However, the effects last for a week either side, according to NASA.

Why Mars Is In Radio Blackout

A quick check of The Planets Today, which gives a live view of the solar system, confirms that Mars and Earth are now on opposite sides of the sun. The two planets are as far apart as they ever get, but more importantly, the sun interferes with radio signals, making communications difficult. It’s not impossible to send messages, but there’s a high risk they will corrupt, which could make the spacecraft and rovers behave erratically.

The root cause is the sun’s hotter outer atmosphere, the corona, which extends thousands of miles into space. It comprises hot, ionized gas that interferes with radio signals.

Spacecraft At Mars Right Now

According to The Planetary Society, the international Mars fleet is currently:

• Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (NASA)
• Curiosity rover (NASA)
• Zhurong rover (China National Space Administration)
• Tianwen-1 orbiter (China National Space Administration)
• ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (European Space Agency/Roscosmos)
• Mars Express orbiter (European Space Agency)
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA)
• Odyssey orbiter (NASA)
• MAVEN orbiter (NASA)
• Hope orbiter (United Arab Emirates)

All will be mainly operating autonomously throughout the communications blackout.

What Mars Spacecraft Will Do During Blackout

“Our mission teams have spent months preparing to-do lists for all our Mars spacecraft,” said Roy Gladden, manager of the Mars Relay Network at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’ll still be able to hear from them and check their states of health over the next few weeks.” That does not apply to November 17/18 when Mars will be directly behind the sun as seen from Earth.

After the closest pass of the sun and Mars, essential health check messages can be exchanged. However, the effect of the Mars solar conjunction will wear off by November 25, allowing direct radio communications to be re-established.

Curiosity’s Landmark Moment

According to the space agency, NASA’s Curiosity rover recently celebrated its 4,000th Martian day since it landed on the red planet on August 5, 2012. A Martian day—called a Sol—lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds.

There are 668 sols in a Martian year, equivalent to 687 days on Earth. In that time, the rover has driven almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) across the Martian surface, taking rock samples to learn more about how the climate of Mars has evolved.

When Mars Is Next Closest To Earth

Mars will next reach opposition—when Earth is between the sun and the red planet, and Earth and Mars will be at their closest—on January 16, 2025. On the day, Mars will appear at its biggest, brightest and best, something that happens roughly only every 687 days.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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