Why NASA Has Suddenly Abandoned Its Six Missions At Mars Until Mid-October

IN SPACE - AUGUST 26: This image released August 27, 2003 captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows a close-up of the red planet Mars when it was just 34,648,840 miles (55,760,220 km) away. This color image was assembled from a series of exposures taken between 6:20 p.m. and 7:12 p.m. EDT August 26, 2003 with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The picture was taken just 11 hours before the planet made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years. Many small, dark, circular impact craters can be seen, attesting to the Hubble telescope's ability to reveal fine detail on the planet's surface. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images) Getty Images

NASA announced yesterday that its engineers will cease sending commands to all of its missions on and at Mars through mid-October—and it’s because of different kind of corona.

The core reason is a once-every-two-years celestial alignment called solar conjunction, which will occur on October 7. It sees Mars hidden behind the Sun from Earth’s point of view and constitutes the end of the present apparition of Mars. 

With Earth and Mars on the opposite sides of the Sun, NASA cannot reliably send messages for a few weeks because they may be corrupted by the Sun’s corona—its crown, or outer atmosphere. It has nothing to do with Covid-19.

This animation illustrates Mars solar conjunction, a period when Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. During this time, the Sun can interrupt radio transmissions to spacecraft on and around the Red Planet. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Hot ionized gas comes from the corona, which during the weeks either side of Mars’ solar conjunction can interfere with radio signals if engineers try to communicate with spacecraft at Mars, said NASA.

Most missions will stop sending commands between October 2 and 16, though a few will extend that a day or so depending on the angular distance between Mars and the Sun in Earth’s sky.

NASA’s missions at Mars will also pause sending back raw images. The full list of NASA’s Mars missions affected by the Red Planet’s solar conjunction are:

• The Perseverance Rover and its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (which will remain stationary) in Jezero crater.
• The Curiosity Rover in Gale crater.
• The stationary InSight lander (which recently discovered three large marsquakes) in Elysium Planitia.
• The Mars Odyssey Orbiter.
• The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
• The Mars MAVEN Orbiter.

NASA’s Mars missions, clockwise from top left: Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, InSight lander, Odyssey orbiter, MAVEN orbiter, Curiosity rover, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Though our Mars missions won’t be as active these next few weeks, they’ll still let us know their state of health,” said Roy Gladden, manager of the Mars Relay Network at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Each mission has been given some homework to do until they hear from us again.”

NASA isn’t the only space agency with robotic missions at or or Mars. The other affected missions—which engineers will also cease communications with for the first half of October—include:

• China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) Zhurong Mars Rover, Utopia Planitia.
• CNSA’s Tianwen-1 Orbiter.
• United Arab Emirates’ Hope Orbiter.
• European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express Orbiter.
• Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Mars Orbiter Mission.
• ESA and Russian Rososmos ExoMars Gas Orbiter.

Only during a total eclipse of the Sun is the solar corona revealed. (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images) The Washington Post via Getty Images

The Sun’s corona is almost always blocked from view by the brighter disk of the Sun. There’s only one scenario where a glimpse of the corona is possible to us on Earth and that’s during a total solar eclipse. The next total solar eclipse will occur in Antarctica.

 On April 8, 2024 totality will come to Mexico, the U.S and Canada for up to a whopping 4 minutes 28 seconds. 

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.