NASA's Mars Missions Hit Two-Week Snooze Button Because Sun
NASA’s Perseverance rover will be parked at this location on Mars during the communication blackout.
For the next two weeks, NASA will not be sending commands to its fleet of Martian rovers, orbiters, and spacecraft until the Sun moves out of the way.
The Mars solar conjunction is from November 11 to 25, a period that occurs every two years during which Earth and the Red Planet are on opposite sides of the Sun in their respective orbital path. During that time, ionized gas being emitted by the Sun could interfere with radio signals being sent from Earth to spacecraft on Mars, possibly resulting in odd behavior from the various rovers trekking across the Martian terrain.
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Here’s what the different missions on Mars will be up to during the next couple of weeks. NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers will monitor changes in surface conditions, weather, and radiation while remaining parked in the same place on the surface of Mars, according to the space agency. Perseverance’s companion, the Ingenuity Helicopter, will use its color camera to study the movement of sand on Mars, which can pose an issue for other missions. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Odyssey orbiter will continue imaging the surface of the Red Planet, while MAVEN will collect data on interactions between Mars’ atmosphere and the Sun.
During this time, NASA will still check on the overall health of its spacecraft save for two days when Mars will be fully hidden behind the Sun’s disk. Once the two-week period ends, the Martian missions will relay the data back to Earth and resume communication with ground control.
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