MAVEN News & Features

Graphic of MAVEN spacecraft with NASA meatball in top left corner and the text "Ten Years at Mars with MAVEN" in yellow letters across the left side of the graphic.

Celebrating 10 Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission

6 min read

A decade ago, on Sept. 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, beginning its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how Mars’…

Article2 months ago
On a black background, a large orange and white orb is surrounded by a diffuse, grainy, orange halo. The halo appears to have more material on its right side than its left.

NASA’s Hubble, MAVEN Help Solve the Mystery of Mars’ Escaping Water

6 min read

Mars was once a very wet planet as is evident in its surface geological features. Scientists know that over the last 3 billion years, at least some water went deep underground, but what happened to the rest? Now, NASA’s Hubble…

Article3 months ago
A sweeping landscape gives way to hills on the colorized horizon in this artistic Mars composite image.

UPDATED: 10 Things for Mars 10

4 min read

Scientists from around the world are gathering this week in California to take stock of the state of science from Mars and discuss goals for the next steps in exploration of the Red Planet. In the spirit of Mars 10,…

Article4 months ago

NASA Watches Mars Light Up During Epic Solar Storm

6 min read

In addition to producing auroras, a recent extreme storm provided more detail on how much radiation future astronauts could encounter on the Red Planet. Mars scientists have been anticipating epic solar storms ever since the Sun entered a period of…

Article5 months ago

NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars

6 min read

The Sun will be at peak activity this year, providing a rare opportunity to study how solar storms and radiation could affect future astronauts on the Red Planet. In the months ahead, two of NASA’s Mars spacecraft will have an…

Article7 months ago
Water-ice (blue) and dust (red) in the atmosphere of Mars above the cratered Martian surface as viewed from orbit by the THEMIS camera (false-color composite image).

Major Martian Milestones

1 min read

There’s good news from NASA’s Cloudspotting on Mars project! That’s the project that invites you to help identify exotic clouds high in the Martian atmosphere. Congratulations to the Cloudspotting on Mars team and all the volunteers who have helped spot Martian clouds!

Article7 months ago
An animation shows a white cloud of material billowing away from the Sun (which is covered by a black disk at the center) toward the left side of the image, set against a red background with a couple dozen stars. The top says "STEREO Ahead COR2" and the bottom shows the date 2021-04-17 with the time progressing from 12:23:30 to 23:53:30.

Multiple Spacecraft Tell the Story of One Giant Solar Storm

5 min read

April 17, 2021, was a day like any other day on the Sun, until a brilliant flash erupted and an enormous cloud of solar material billowed away from our star. Such outbursts from the Sun are not unusual, but this…

Article9 months ago

NASA’s MAVEN Observes the Disappearing Solar Wind

5 min read

In December 2022, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission observed the dramatic and unexpected “disappearance” of a stream of charged particles constantly emanating off the Sun, known as the solar wind. This was caused by a special type…

Article12 months ago

NASA’s Mars Fleet Will Still Conduct Science While Lying Low

2 min read

Rovers and orbiters will continue collecting limited data during a two-week communications pause due to the position of Earth, the Sun, and the Red Planet. NASA will hold off sending commands to its Mars fleet for two weeks, from Nov.…

Article1 year ago

NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Stuns with Ultraviolet Views of Red Planet

3 min read

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission acquired stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along our neighboring planet’s orbit around the Sun.

Article1 year ago