Mars Orbiter Mystery: What Really Happened to MAVEN?
MarsThu Dec 18 2025
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NASA's Mars orbiter, MAVEN, has suddenly stopped working and is spinning uncontrollably. This strange event happened after the spacecraft passed behind Mars. Before this, MAVEN had been studying a mysterious object from another star system called 3I/ATLAS.
MAVEN had taken pictures of 3I/ATLAS in October, but the images were not clear. This made some people suspicious and led to wild theories about what NASA might be hiding. Now, with MAVEN not working, these theories have gotten even wilder.
NASA says MAVEN was working fine before it went behind Mars. But when it was supposed to come back into view, there was no signal. Later, they found out that MAVEN was spinning in a strange way and its orbit had changed. They are still trying to figure out what happened.
MAVEN has been an important part of Mars exploration since 2014. Its job was to help scientists understand how Mars changed from a warm, wet planet to the cold, dry one we see today. It also helped communicate with rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance. Losing MAVEN is a big deal for Mars science.
Some scientists, like Harvard physicist Avi Loeb, think 3I/ATLAS is not a normal comet. They point to strange things about it, like how it changes color and has an anti-tail. Loeb believes these things are too weird for a natural object.
As 3I/ATLAS gets closer to Earth, more people will be watching it. NASA says it's just a comet, but the mystery remains. Meanwhile, MAVEN's silence leaves many questions unanswered. Did something go wrong inside the spacecraft, or did something else happen? The world is watching and wondering.