Investigating the Martian Atmosphere

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    ID: 4370 Visualization

    Solar Wind Strips the Martian Atmosphere

    Nov. 5th, 2015
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Scientists have long suspected the solar wind of stripping the Martian upper atmosphere into space, turning Mars from a blue world to a red one. Now, NASA's MAVEN orbiter is observing this process in action, providing significant data on solar wind erosion at Mars.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || Today, Mars is a global desert with an atmosphere far too thin to support bodies of flowing water, but evidence shows that Mars was considerably wetter in the ancient past. Scientists think that climate change on Mars was caused by the loss of an early, thick atmosphere, and NASA’s MAVEN mission is investigating whether it was driven into space.One of the prime suspects is the solar wind, a stream of electrically charged particles continuously blowing outward from the Sun. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field to deflect the incoming solar wind. Instead, charged particles from the Sun crash into the Mars upper atmosphere, and can accelerate Martian ions into space. Now, MAVEN has observed this process in action – by measuring the velocity of ions escaping from Mars.The movies on this page compare simulations of ion escape with MAVEN’s observations of oxygen ion flux. The results closely fit the expected pattern, with the most energetic ions (in red) accelerated in a plume above Mars, while the majority of escaping ions (green) are lost along the “tail” region in the wake of the solar wind. MAVEN’s observations confirm that the solar wind is a significant contributor to atmosphere loss on Mars, and they bring scientists closer to solving the mystery of the ancient Martian climate. Read the full press release about this finding.Watch the November 2015 MAVEN Science Update. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4393 Visualization

    Solar Wind and Mars Bow Shock

    Nov. 5th, 2015
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Simulation of the solar wind at Mars compared with MAVEN observations, showing the predicted bow shock. Available for download in up to 4k resolution. || Today, Mars is a global desert with an atmosphere far too thin to support bodies of flowing water, but evidence shows that Mars was considerably wetter in the ancient past. Scientists think that climate change on Mars was caused by the loss of an early, thick atmosphere, and NASA's MAVEN mission is investigating what could have driven its escape.One of the prime suspects is the solar wind, a stream of electrically charged particles continuously blowing outward from the Sun. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field to deflect the incoming solar wind. Instead, charged particles from the Sun slam into the Mars upper atmosphere, piling up in a bow shock ahead of the planet. The inner boundary of this bow shock reaches the Mars ionosphere, and can accelerate ions to escape velocities. During solar storms, the bow shock pushes even deeper into the atmosphere and is accompanied by increased rates of ion escape.The visualization on this page compares a simulation of the solar wind at Mars with data from the MAVEN spacecraft. MAVEN's observations confirm the existence of a bow shock, with a density and shape matching the predicted pattern. Thanks to MAVEN, scientists can now observe the solar wind at Mars during both normal and extreme conditions, allowing them to study the Sun's ongoing role in the evolution of the Martian climate.Read the full press release about this finding.Watch an excerpt of the MAVEN Mission Briefing. ||

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  • 
    ID: 10157 Produced Video

    Voices of MAVEN

    Nov. 6th, 2014
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Members of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN) share their experiences of working on the project.For complete transcript, click here.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel. || On September 21, 2014, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission, or MAVEN, went into orbit around the Red Planet. Its goal: to understand how a changing atmosphere transformed Mars from a warm, wet environment in its youth to the desert world that we see today. Building such a mission and sending it to Mars is a hugely complex task, requiring the close coordination of hundreds of individuals around the country. In this video, several of the team members who made the mission possible share their experiences of working on MAVEN. ||

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  • 
    ID: 11673 Produced Video

    MAVEN at Mars

    Oct. 14th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    On September 21, 2014, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft completed its 10-month journey and entered orbit around the Red Planet. As the first mission devoted to observing the tenuous upper atmosphere of Mars, MAVEN will help scientists determine how much of the atmosphere has been lost throughout the planet’s history and which processes have driven that loss. The spacecraft has already conducted preliminary observations of important gases in the planet’s upper atmosphere and sent those images back to Earth. Watch the videos to learn more about the MAVEN mission. ||

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  • 
    ID: 11636 Produced Video

    Targeting Mars

    Sept. 4th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    If you want to send a spacecraft from Earth to Mars, how would you get it there? You can't aim straight at the Red Planet, because it's moving around the Sun significantly slower than the Earth. Instead, you'll have to wait for up to 26 months for a launch window, then carefully aim at a moving target. In November, 2013, the controllers of NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft did just that. When MAVEN arrives, it will be the first spacecraft to study Mars's upper atmosphere in detail, helping scientists understand how Mars changed from a wet planet early in its history to the cold, dry world we see today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 11053 B-Roll

    MAVEN Broadcast-Quality Spacecraft and Instrument Footage

    July 30th, 2012
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    This page contains broadcast-quality footage of the MAVEN spacecraft and science instruments. The MAVEN bus was built at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado. MAVEN's science instruments were built at the Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) at the University of California, Berkeley; at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado, Boulder; and at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Launch operations were conducted at the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida. MAVEN was launched on November 18, 2013 and arrived at Mars on September 21, 2014 EDT. ||

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