MAVEN Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer

Released Thursday, July 18, 2013
Updated Monday, June 8, 2015 at 5:58PM

ID: 11310

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While NASA rovers, landers, and orbiters have scrutinized the surface of Mars for decades, a key question to understanding the Red Planet's ancient habitability has hitherto gone unanswered: what happened to its atmosphere? NASA's MAVEN spacecraft will fill in this gap in the history of Mars, thanks in part to its Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, or NGIMS instrument. By studying the interaction of neutral gases and ions with the solar wind, NGIMS will observe current atmospheric escape processes on Mars and allow scientists to extrapolate back to the ancient atmosphere. The results could tell scientists just how long Mars was warm, wet, and hospitable, refining our understanding of its early potential for life.

MAVEN will use its Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer to study the interaction of neutral gases and ions in the Martian atmosphere with the solar wind, helping scientists to understand how Mars has lost its atmosphere over time.

Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.

For complete transcript, click here.

For More Information

See http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/maven-spectrometer-opens-window-to-red-planet-s-past/#.UgExWHB8wgM

NASA Science: Planets & Moons

Atmosphere Earth Science HDTV Ionosphere Mars Mass Spectrometry MAVEN Neutral Atoms Planets Solar System Spectrometer

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Video editor
- Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle)
Interviewee
- Paul Mahaffy (NASA/GSFC)
Producer
- Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle)
Videographers
- Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle)
- Rob Andreoli (AIMM)
Project support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET)

Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions:

MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN

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