How Curiosity Will Go Missing for 2 Weeks

When you read the title, you must be thinking to yourself, how? What does it even mean? Explain? Let me answer some thoughts that come to your mind. Little green men are not kidnapping the Curiosity rover. Mars was not blown up by a planet-sized spacecraft with a planet-destroying laser. And the terminator has not taken control of Mars. Instead, the reason that we are going to be missing the Curiosity rover and other robotic explorers is because of a communication breakdown that is going to be caused by the Sun.

Mars Solar Conjunction

NASA has estimated that we will lose communication because of the Mars solar conjunction which will take place between October 2nd and October 16th, when Mars and the Earth will be on opposite sides of the sun. However, this doesn’t mean that all rover-based operations and explorations won’t stop. Instead, commands have been sent to Mars orbiters that will then send their commands to rovers on Mars, but exploration will be a little bit slower than normal.

This event happens every few years. The sun blocks communication because of its hot, energized gas. When the Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun, these hot solar gases can interfere with communications. If NASA engineers try to send commands to Martian rovers or orbiters, they could risk any data or the health of the rovers or orbiters. Hence why NASA sent instructions beforehand to the rovers and orbiters on Mars.

Perseverance Capturing Image
of a Rock Sample Named "Rochette"

For example, the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers will remain parked for the 2-week communication blackout. Perseverance will continue to use its Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument to track the Martian weather. It will also use its RIMFAX radar instrument, listen to sounds, and use its onboard cameras for dust devils (dust storms on Mars). The Ingenuity rotorcraft will also remain parked but will be able to communicate with the Perseverance rover and send any data if necessary. Other Martian explorers like the InSight lander, and the Mars orbiters Odyssey, MAVEN, and MRO, will continue on with their normal missions.

NASA is expecting that small amounts of data may be received during the solar conjunction, but most of the data will be transferred to Earth after October 16th to ensure nothing gets compromised. After this data is received, all active missions will be paused briefly to analyze all the new data and see if all normal operations can resume again. The conjunction will not only give NASA some rest time but also all of the Martian explorers some rest time. Just remember, next time you check in to the stream of images from the InSight lander and notice that no pictures are coming up, it is not your wifi’s fault. It is the Sun’s fault.

Some of the Martian Explorers Affected by the Solar Conjunction

Sources:

Strickland, Ashley. “This Solar Event Will Halt Communication with Mars Missions for 2 Weeks.” CNN, Cable News Network, 1 Oct. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/01/world/mars-solar-conjunction-2021-scn/index.html.