NASA has decided to temporarily halt sending commands to its Mars fleet from November 11 to 25, as the Earth, the Sun, and the Red Planet align in a phenomenon known as Mars solar conjunction.
This regular occurrence, happening every two years, prompts the space agency to implement a communications pause due to potential interference caused by the Sun's corona, a hot and ionized gas that could corrupt radio signals sent from Earth.
UNSPECIFIED: In this concept illustration provided by NASA, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. NASA via Getty Images
What is Mars Solar Conjunction?
Mars solar conjunction is a celestial event that occurs approximately every 26 months when Mars, Earth, and the Sun are aligned in a straight line, with Mars positioned on the opposite side of the Sun as viewed from Earth.
During this alignment, Mars is obscured by the Sun, leading to a period of communication difficulties between Earth and Mars spacecraft.
The primary concern during Mars' solar conjunction is the potential interference caused by the Sun's corona, a hot and ionized outer atmosphere. The Sun emits intense radiation, including radio waves, and the ionized gas in the corona can affect radio signals sent from Earth to Mars and vice versa.
This interference poses a risk of corrupting the transmitted data, leading to errors or disruptions in communications.
To mitigate this risk, space agencies, including NASA, implement a communications pause or "command moratorium" during the Mars solar conjunction. This involves temporarily halting the sending of commands to Mars spacecraft to prevent any potential issues arising from the interference.
While the spacecraft remain active and continue their scientific observations, they do not receive new instructions during this period.
This precautionary measure ensures the integrity of data transmission between Earth and Mars, allowing space agencies to resume normal operations once the conjunction period concludes.
During this two-week period, robotic explorers, including the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, will not receive new instructions but will remain active, monitoring changes in surface conditions, weather, and radiation. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, while grounded, will employ its color camera to study sand movement, a perpetual challenge for Mars missions.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Odyssey orbiter, and MAVEN will continue imaging the surface and collecting data on atmospheric interactions with the Sun.
Despite the temporary hold on sending commands, the Mars fleet's instruments will still contribute to scientific endeavors. However, there will be a two-day period during conjunction when NASA will not receive health updates from the spacecraft due to the Red Planet being fully behind the Sun.
Once the Mars solar conjunction concludes, the orbiters will transmit the accumulated science data to Earth, and the spacecraft will resume receiving instructions. This pause is a precautionary measure to ensure that the Sun's activities do not disrupt the integrity of the data transmission between Earth and the Mars fleet.
