houston – For two weeks starting this Saturday, the space agency will not contact NASA’s fleet on Mars. NASA announced this. Probes, rovers and landers such as Curiosity will be hard to reach with persistence and ease, as the Sun moves between Mars and Earth during this time. This constellation is called the “solar conjunction”.

Magnetic fields and electrical radiation near the Sun can cause problems for Mars Radio. NASA’s orders will likely arrive at Mars in a confusing way for probes and rovers. In the worst case, it will lead to persistence and a breakdown in the company. So that one of the expensive rovers doesn’t accidentally drill into its own wheel, NASA lets it stand still.

NASA fleet busy during communication loss

During radio silence, the Mars rovers and other machines are not displayed in any way. Perseverance will continue to take weather measurements, keep track of dust and make new audio recordings. Its predecessor Curiosity, which has been on Mars since 2011, has similar functions and also measures radiation – all without moving. Lander InSight is still listening for marsquakes, and the Ingenuity helicopter is on the ground and sending data to the Perseverance rover on a weekly basis.

The images, sound recordings and data collected, which cannot be sent to Earth, must be saved and then arrive at Houston with some delay. Presumably on October 16th, NASA will finally break the silence and send the first signal back to the Red Planet. Then the holiday of the Mars fleet is over.