该飞行器于9月23日刚启动发动机来减慢速度以便进入火星轨道时，便与美国太空总署失去联系，太空总署的工程技术人员推测它可能已撞毁。该计划耗资近10亿美元，若飞行器真的失踪，对太空总署打击很大。这事件令人们想起1993年另一架无人驾驶的飞行器“火星观察者”号的类似失踪 When the aircraft started its engine on September 23 to slow its speed to enter orbit, it lost contact with NASA, and engineers at NASA speculated it might have crashed. The plan costs nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars, and if the aircraft is really missing, it will hit NASA hard. The incident reminds people of a similar disappearance of another UAV pilot, the “Mars Observer,” in 1993