The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), NASA's first mission devoted to observing the Martian atmosphere and its evolution, has officially come to an end after losing contact with its spacecraft last December, the agency has announced.

Blasting off on November 18, 2013, the spacecraft entered Mars' orbit on September 21, 2014. Originally designed for a one-year primary mission, the spacecraft operated at the Red Planet for more than 11 years and exceeded its planned mission life by more than a decade, according to NASA.