NASA declares its Mars Maven spacecraft dead after six months of silence

Nbcwashington · Jun 03, 2026 · 205 words · By Marcia Dunn; The Associated Press

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What to know about NASA declares its Mars Maven spacecraft dead after six months of silence

After six months of radio silence, NASA’s Maven spacecraft at Mars has been declared dead.

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center100%

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5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

After six months of radio silence, NASA’s Maven spacecraft at Mars has been declared dead.

Why it matters

The space agency confirmed Wednesday that the mission had ended after more than a decade of observations.

Common ground

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Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: NASA declares its Mars Maven spacecraft dead after six months of silence?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/nasa-mars-maven-spacec…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified By Reference 3

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Claim 1: “Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources report that data indicated a fast spin which disrupted the orbit and drained the batteries.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 18, 2026 ... Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries. A review board convened by ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZv4P3zxVBu/

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... NASA is scrapping its mission to observe Mars after six months of some radio silence. The MAVEN mission spacecraft first launched in 2013 to ...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DZK3XcNiQIq/

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 6, 2026 ... Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, disrupting its orbit and draining the batteries. An investigation is ongoing to determine ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZPwWuXn3As/

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Claim 2: “Maven mysteriously fell silent in early December after passing behind Mars.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web sources specify that the spacecraft stopped communicating on December 6, 2025, after passing behind the Red Planet.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The atmosphere of Mars is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%), molecular nitrogen (2.85%), and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of spacecraft missions (including unsuccessful ones) to the planet Mars, such as orbiters, landers, and rovers. Mission time is often measured in Mars sols, solar days on Mars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — MAVEN is an inactive NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars that studied the loss of its atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of the planet's climate and water. The name is an acronym…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAVEN

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “NASA’s Maven spacecraft at Mars has been declared dead.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources (AP, and other news reports dated June 2026) and Wikipedia confirm that NASA declared the MAVEN spacecraft dead.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 mil…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Mars_Odyssey

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following table is a list of Mars orbiters, consisting of space probes which were launched from Earth and are currently orbiting Mars. As of August 2023, there have been 18 spacecraft missions ope…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mars_orbiters

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+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 4: “Besides studying Martian weather and observing a stray interstellar comet last year, Maven helped relay information from NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on the surface.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While Wikipedia and web search confirm MAVEN's general purpose and the existence of Curiosity and Perseverance, the specific claim that MAVEN relayed data for these rovers or observed a 'stray interstellar comet last year' is not explicitly confirmed in the provided evidence snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Curiosity is a Mars rover that is exploring Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Launched in 2011 and landed the following year, the car-sized r…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mars 2020 is a NASA mission that includes the rover Perseverance, the now-grounded small robotic helicopter Ingenuity, and associated delivery systems, as part of the Mars Exploration Program. Mars 20…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_2020

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 5: “Launched in 2013 to study the red planet’s atmosphere from orbit”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms MAVEN was launched to study the loss of Mars' atmospheric gases to space; general mission history confirms the 2013 launch date.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The magnetic field of Mars is the magnetic field generated from Mars's interior. Today, Mars does not have a global magnetic field. However, Mars did power an early dynamo that produced a strong magne…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_of_Mars

verified

Claim 6: “Maven's lead scientist, Shannon Curry of the University of Colorado Boulder”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and official university/mission pages confirm Shannon Curry of the University of Colorado Boulder is the Principal Investigator (lead scientist) for MAVEN.

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web search NEUTRAL — Shannon Curry is a planetary physicist and the Principal Investigator of the NASA Mars Scout mission MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Curry

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web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Shannon Curry is an Associate Professor in the Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences (APS) Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder and is currently ...
https://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/about/teampartners/principal…

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web search NEUTRAL — ... University of Colorado, Boulder and is currently the Principal Investigator of the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Prior to ...
https://www.colorado.edu/aps/shannon-curry

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Claim 7: “The space agency confirmed Wednesday that the mission had ended after more than a decade of observations.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results from June 2026 confirm that NASA announced the end of the mission on a Wednesday after more than a decade of observations.

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web search NEUTRAL — NASA's first orbital spaceflight was conducted by John Glenn on February 20, 1962, in the Friendship 7, making three full orbits before reentering. Glenn had to fly parts of his final two orbits manua…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA

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web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · NASA.gov brings you the latest news, images and videos from America's space agency, pioneering the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.
https://www.nasa.gov/

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web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.
https://www.nasa.gov/?m=0

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Claim 8: “A review board convened by NASA earlier this year concluded that the spacecraft is useless and unable to be recovered.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm a review board determined the spacecraft was not recoverable and unable to perform science/data tasks.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shannon Curry is a planetary physicist and the Principal Investigator of the NASA Mars Scout mission MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution). Curry is an associate professor at the University o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Curry

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.