It's Time for the Mars Rovers to Hunker Down and Wait for the Earth to Return

If you’ve noticed a slowdown in Mars news lately, it’s because of the Sun. Or, rather, it’s because the Sun is temporarily blocking our “view” of the Red Planet, which is on the other side of the Sun from Earth, in what’s called “Mars Solar Conjunction.” This happens every two years as Earth and Mars move through their orbits. The last one was in 2021. Of course, the missions don’t stop doing their work. They stockpile data until it’s safe …