NASA's MAVEN spacecraft mysteriously disappears at Mars, impacting rovers.

• NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, orbiting Mars for 11 years, has unexpectedly gone silent and is currently missing.
• Contact was lost after MAVEN passed behind Mars on December 6th, failing to re-establish communication with ground control.
• MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) launched in 2013, studies Mars' atmosphere, ionosphere, and solar wind effects.
• Its discoveries include how Mars lost water, a magnetic tail, new proton auroras, and explained the sputtering process.
• MAVEN is critical for relaying data from Mars rovers (Curiosity, Perseverance) to Earth; its loss would severely impact rover operations.

Why It Matters: MAVEN's disappearance on Mars threatens vital data relay for active rovers.