Preface: On Dec. 16 and 20, 2025 NASA’s Curiosity team used the rover’s Mastcam instrument in an attempt to image MAVEN’s reference orbit, but MAVEN was not detected.

The initial loss of contact on December 6, 2025, was due to a routine orbital blackout as MAVEN passed behind Mars, but an unspecified anomaly prevented signal reacquisition when it reemerged; however, the upcoming Mars solar conjunction (around late December 2025/early January 2026) will further delay recovery efforts, as the Sun blocks communication paths, but it wasn’t the cause of the initial December 6th silence.

Background: The Earth-Sun conjunction timing isn’t perfectly annual because Earth’s orbit is an ellipse (oval), not a perfect circle, causing its distance and speed to the Sun to vary, and long-term orbital changes (Milankovitch cycles) also shift dates slightly over millennia, meaning solar conjunctions (when the Sun is between Earth and another planet) and even peak closeness (perihelion) happen at different Earth-orbit points annually.

The planetary orbits are elliptical and speeds vary (Kepler’s Laws), but a solar conjunction (when a planet passes behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective) typically happens once per orbit for that specific planet, around every 1-2 years for inner planets, or 2-5 years for Mars, due to Earth catching up, not multiple times annually for the same planet because of its own varying speed; the elliptical nature and speed changes influence when and how often these conjunctions occur over years, making them predictable cycles, not random occurrences within a single year for one planet.

Remark: Mercury and Venus are inner planets

Official announcement: Please refer to the link for details – https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/maven/2025/12/23/nasa-works-maven-spacecraft-issue-ahead-of-solar-conjunction/

Additional: http://www.antihackingonline.com/uncategorized/when-3i-atlas-meets-santa-claus-24th-dec-2025/