NASA to pause sending signals until 25 November to its Mars fleet due to Mars solar conjunction, robotic explorers will continue monitoring the Red Planet

Mars, one of the most wonderous planets of the Solar System has been in study for 1000s of years. NASA’s MARS fleet, an international fleet of robotic spacecraft, has been constantly studying Mars since the 1990s.

The latest updates by NASA informed that NASA will put a halt on command signals to the Mars fleet until 25 November, starting from today, November 11, 2023. The reason behind this is that Earth and Mars will be on opposite sides of the Sun during this period. This phenomenon is called the Mars solar conjunction.

However, the robotic explorers won’t be on a break during these two weeks. NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers will be at work, monitoring changes in surface conditions, weather, and radiation, even when they are lying low, parked.

On the other hand, the Ingenuity Mars helicopter will continue to study the movement of sand with the use of its color camera.

Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Odyssey Orbiter will be dedicated to imaging the surface of the Red Planet.

Mars’s solar conjunction occurs every two years. During this phenomenon, the Sun’s corona lets out hot ionized gas, which holds the potential of hampering radio signals. This can further result in unexpected behavior by the Mars spacecraft.

You can check out other NASA updates, missions, and more, which we have covered earlier here.