NASA Loses Contact With Mars Rovers After Sun Block Signals

NASA has temporarily suspended its communications with its fleet of rovers on Mars.

The scheduled break, known as the “Mars solar conjunction,” occurs every two years when Earth and Mars are parallel with the Sun in the middle.

The event temporarily disrupts the signals between the space agency and the Mars rovers on the red planet.

We'll stand down from commanding our Mars missions for the next few weeks while Earth and the Red Planet are on opposite sides of the Sun. The robotic explorers will stay busy though, collecting weather data, listening for marsquakes, and more: https://t.co/d8OrX4JD4W pic.twitter.com/NH01Rd5GUe

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) September 28, 2021

Five Rovers Lose Contact

Five rovers on Mars have lost contact with the agency between 11 November and 25 November, NASA said.

The rovers included NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, and three orbiters called the Odyssey, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the MAVEN.

Rover’s Functions Remain

The primary reason behind the disturbance is the interference caused by the Sun’s hot, ionized gas expelled into space.

The roots on the host planet receive a to-do list of instructions before the event happens so they can complete their scientific search.