NASA just lost contact with a Mars orbiter, and will soon lose another one
by Stephen Clark from Ars Technica - All content on (#722YA)
NASA has lost contact with one of its three spacecraft orbiting Mars, the agency announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, a second Mars orbiter is perilously close to running out of fuel, and the third mission is running well past its warranty.
Ground teams last heard from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on Saturday, December 6. Telemetry from MAVEN had showed all subsystems working normally before it orbited behind the red planet," NASA said in a short statement. After the spacecraft emerged from behind Mars, NASA's Deep Space Network did not observe a signal."
NASA said mission controllers are investigating the anomaly to address the situation. More information will be shared once it becomes available."