Not Looking Very Promising For MAVEN… As Solar Conjunction Looms.

The Maven team's efforts continue, but the likelihood of a positive outcome continues to dwindle, tonight.

There will be no recovery efforts possible between December 29 to January 16, as Earth and Mars are blinded to each other, when on opposite sides of the Sun. Here's that:

. . .As part of [the reconnection] effort, on Dec. 16 and 20, NASA’s Curiosity team used the rover’s Mastcam instrument in an attempt to image MAVEN’s reference orbit, but MAVEN was not detected. Additional analysis will continue, but planned monitoring will be affected by the upcoming solar conjunction.

Mars solar conjunction -- a period when Mars and Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun -- begins Monday, Dec. 29, and NASA will not have contact with any Mars missions until Friday, Jan. 16. Once the solar conjunction window is over, NASA plans to resume its efforts to reestablish communications with MAVEN. . . .

Here's to hoping, on Christmas night. Onward.

नमस्ते