After a month of no answer, NASA will try hailing its silent MAVEN Mars orbiter today

Artist’s illustration of NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, which is investigating how, why and when Mars lost most of its atmosphere.

After waiting out a planned two-week communication blackout, NASA is set to listen again for a Mars orbiter that abruptly went silent more than a month ago.

The renewed contact attempt for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, or MAVEN, comes after the end of a solar conjunction today (Jan. 16) — a period when the sun sits between Earth and Mars and charged solar particles can interfere with or corrupt radio signals. Communications with spacecraft are typically suspended during these events to avoid sending partial or distorted commands that could trigger unintended, potentially dangerous behavior.