NASA just lost contact with a Mars orbiter, and will soon lose another one
Mars relay capability depends on aging orbiters; MAVEN's high-altitude orbit can provide longer, higher-throughput relay windows as older relays near end-of-life.
A NASA Spacecraft Orbiting Mars Just Mysteriously Went Offline
NASA lost contact with the MAVEN Mars orbiter, which studies the upper atmosphere and relays communications, complicating Mars mission support and prompting anomaly investigation.