Issues with the navigation system encountered by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft earlier this year have hindered its ability to study the Martian atmosphere.
The MAVEN spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2014 and entered safe mode on February 22 when critical inertial measurement devices began to exhibit “abnormal behavior.” In safe mode, the spacecraft halted all scientific operations and awaited guidance from flight control specialists for recovery.
MAVEN spacecraft in Martian orbit. (Photo: NASA)
In the weeks that followed, NASA attempted to revive MAVEN from safe mode, but with limited capabilities. The spacecraft is in a stable orbit with its main antenna pointed toward Earth to maintain high-speed communication with the flight control team.
However, in this configuration, MAVEN is unable to transmit communication signals to other spacecraft on Mars and can only perform very limited scientific observations. The mission team began to restore the scientific instruments on April 20. Previously, MAVEN played a crucial role in relaying communications for NASA’s rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, helping to send the latest images and research from the Martian surface back to Earth.
The Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) of MAVEN relies on a laser gyroscope that detects the spacecraft’s inertial motion, and four reaction wheels arranged in a pyramid shape that rotate independently to keep the spacecraft on course. MAVEN is also equipped with two star trackers that can capture images of stars and feed them into an algorithm to help the spacecraft determine its orientation in space.
According to NASA, MAVEN operated in safe mode until April 19. After that, flight control specialists transitioned the spacecraft to a mode called “all-stellar.” All scientific instruments on MAVEN are now powered on, but not all instruments can collect data while the main antenna is pointed toward Earth. The team is working to complete checks for the “all-stellar” mode to allow the spacecraft to operate in other orientations before resuming scientific activities and communications.
NASA launched MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) in November 2013 at a cost of $671 million, and the spacecraft arrived at Mars in October 2014. Its mission is to study how Mars lost its surface water and became the arid world we see today. Last month, NASA extended MAVEN’s mission for an additional three years to continue its scientific research.
