NASA's Mars exploration robots will be on their own for the next two weeks while the space agency waits out a natural phenomenon that will prevent normal communications. Mars and Earth have reached positions in their orbits that put them on opposite sides of the sun, in an alignment known as solar conjunction. During this time, NASA says it's risky to try and send commands to its instruments on Mars because interference from the sun could have a detrimental effect. To prevent any issues, NASA is taking a planned break from giving orders until the planets move into more suitable positions. The pause started on Saturday and will go on until November 25.

NASA is set to pause most of its robotic Mars missions for safety reasons ahead of a two-week blackout caused by the Red Planet's position in space. The rovers Perseverance and Curiosity, as well as helicopter Ingenuity and the lander InSight, will all lose connection with Earth from October 2 when Mars moves behind the sun from our planet's perspective. This position in its orbit, called solar conjunction, happens every two years and can disrupt interplanetary communications and lead to'unexpected behaviour from our deep space explorers', NASA said in a statement. Solar conjunction, when Mars moves behind the sun from Earth's perspective (pictured), happens every two years and can disrupt interplanetary communications NASA is planning to stop sending commands to most of its Mars missions during a communications blackout between October 2 and 16. Instead, the various robots will be given'homework' to carry out on their own. The main missions affected include the Perseverance rover, which arrived on the Red Planet in February, and the Ingenuity helicopter it brought with it on its seven-month journey.