Solar Wind Strips the Martian Atmosphere

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  • 
    ID: 14204 Produced Video

    Mars Patchy Proton Aurora

    Aug. 31st, 2022
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission and the United Arab Emirates’ Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) have released joint observations of dynamic proton aurora events at Mars. Remote auroral observations by EMM paired with in-situ plasma observations made by MAVEN open new avenues for understanding the Martian atmosphere. This collaboration was made possible by recent data-sharing between the two missions and highlights the value of multi-point observations in space.Learn more about this discovery by MAVEN and EMM. ||

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  • 
    ID: 13803 Produced Video

    Destination Mars! On February 18 NASA’s Newest and Most Ambitious Rover Lands on the Red Planet

    Feb. 8th, 2021
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Click here for Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover press kit.Quick link to cut B-ROLL for the LIVE SHOTSQuick link to canned interview with KEITH COMEAUXQuick link to PROMO for Spanish language show || Game Day! Join NASA In The Excitement As We Countdown To Landing On The Red Planet After six months, more than 300 million miles and seven precarious minutes... On February 18, NASA begins an epic and unparalleled exploration of Mars with the landing of its newest rover. As the first rover to land on the red planet since 2012, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is the agency’s most ambitious rover yet. The SUV-sized rover will explore Mars in search of signs of ancient life, collect samples of Martian rocks and sediment for future return to Earth, study the planet’s geology and climate, and pave the way for human exploration beyond the Moon. Throughout all of this, it will also collect the first sounds from the Red Planet, allowing us to hear what Mars sounds like! Perseverance is landing in the most challenging Martian terrain ever targeted: an area known as Jezero Crater. Scientists want to explore and investigate Jezero Crater because they believe it was once filled with flowing water, and perhaps had the right environment that could have supported ancient microbial life. But Jezero is also a dangerous area to land in because it has steep cliffs, sand dunes, and boulder fields. NASA team members will be available for virtual one-on-one interviews on Wednesday, February 17 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST and Thursday, February 18 from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. The capsule carrying Perseverance enters Mars’s atmosphere at 3:48 p.m. EST and lands at 3:55 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 18. ** Interviews will be conducted using video chat programs including Zoom in 15-minute slots. For example 600-615 ET, 615-630 ET, etc. Satellite interviews are not available. ** Interviews are available in Spanish**. List of participating scientists will be added next week. To book an interview please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/Li4ow3zAXj5FgKQK9 *If you are looking to book a radio or podcast interview, please contact victoria.j.woodburn@nasa.gov or fill out the following form: https://forms.gle/2aE3Kbhsn3udmdjG7 * Please note the following changes to the form:Our preferred video chat program is now Zoom and you will need to provide us with the Zoom link. No IFB interviews will be done. (If you require an IFB please reach out to michelle.z.handleman@nasa.gov) All taped radio interviews will be done over Microsoft Teams. We will provide you with the Microsoft Teams link. Suggested Anchor/Host Intro: TOMORROW / TODAY IS THE DAY NASA WILL LAND THE FIRST ROVER ON MARS IN NEARLY A DECADE. PERSEVERANCE WILL SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF LIFE, COLLECT THE FIRST SAMPLES THAT WILL BE RETURNED BY A FUTURE MISSION, AND PAVE THE WAY FOR HUMAN EXPLORERS. JOINING US TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THIS MISSION IS ______. Suggested Questions:Perseverance is the first rover to land on Mars since Curiosity in 2012. What makes this rover special?Perseverance is going to an intriguing place on Mars that scientists believe was an ancient lakebed. What will the rover be studying there?I hear that the rover is landing in quite a dangerous part of Mars. What will be going through your mind during the landing?Perseverance will be collecting samples of Martian rock and soil. What will happen to those samples?What are you most looking forward to learning with Perseverance?How can our viewers watch the landing and stay up-to-date on this mission? Questions for longer interviews:I hear the rover also has a sidekick. Can you tell us what Ingenuity is and what it's trying to test for the first time?Thanks to Perseverance, we’re actually going to hear what Mars sounds like for the first time. What are you most excited to hear?How does this mission set the stage for future human missions to Mars?How difficult is it to send a rover to Mars? ||

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  • 
    ID: 4824 Visualization

    MAVEN Observes Solar Particle Velocities and the Induced Magnetic Field

    May 25th, 2020
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    MAVEN orbits Mars and measures solar particle velocities and variations in the solar wind’s magnetic field. || The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2014, observing the planet’s upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind in order to better understand the climate history of Mars.In this visualization, a series of MAVEN’s orbits are shown from March 8-9, 2015. During these orbits, MAVEN’s particles and fields instruments observed the speed and direction of charged particles in the solar wind flowing past Mars – represented as yellow spikes pointing from the planet’s dayside toward its nightside. MAVEN’s magnetometers also recorded variations in the strength and direction of the solar wind’s magnetic field – represented as green spikes at an angle to the charged particle velocities.The solar wind has contributed to the erosion of the Martian atmosphere over time, which has gradually turned Mars from warm and wet to cold and dry. MAVEN is helping scientists to better understand the complex processes that have driven this transition, and which continue to affect the Martian climate today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4825 Visualization

    MAVEN – Mars and Solar Wind Simulation

    May 25th, 2020
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    This simulation depicts the solar wind interacting with the Mars upper atmosphere, with MAVEN's orbit embedded. || The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2014, observing the planet’s upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind in order to better understand the climate history of Mars. The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles blowing from the Sun at approximately one million miles per hour.This visualization simulates charged particles (ions) in the Mars upper atmosphere interacting with the solar wind and escaping to space. Red and yellow particles represent high-velocity ions that escape the planet, while greens and blues represent low-velocity ions that remain bound to Mars. Time is frozen in the visualization, and a camera move reveals the structure of the system.On Mars’ dayside, the ions follow the contours of the solar wind bow shock; on its nightside they are drawn into a long tail, with a complex internal structure driven by electrical current systems. MAVEN’s elliptical orbit is embedded within the cloud of escaping ions. In this visualization, MAVEN orbits nearly above the Martian terminator – the boundary between the planet’s dayside and its nightside – though the orbit also drifts slowly around Mars.The solar wind has contributed to the erosion of the Martian atmosphere over time, which has gradually turned Mars from warm and wet to cold and dry. MAVEN is helping scientists to better understand the complex processes that have driven this transition, and which continue to affect the Martian climate today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 20282 Animation

    Terraforming the Martian Atmosphere

    July 30th, 2018
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    One of the challenges of terraforming Mars is to increase its atmospheric pressure, which is currently less than 1% that of Earth. The Martian polar caps, minerals, and soil could all provide sources of carbon dioxide and water to thicken the atmosphere. Unfortunately, a new study by the MAVEN science team finds that processing all sources available on Mars would only increase the pressure to about 7% that of Earth, far short of what is needed.Learn more about this finding. || Text and Textless Digital Versions of Infographic ||

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  • 
    ID: 12986 Produced Video

    Mars Proton Aurora

    July 23rd, 2018
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    On Earth, the northern and southern lights occur when the solar wind (electrically charged particles from the Sun) follow our planet's geomagnetic field lines to the poles and collide with the upper atmosphere. Mars lacks a global magnetic field, so instead the solar wind piles up in front of Mars in a bow shock, which blocks charged particles from reaching the bulk of the atmosphere. However, in a process first observed by the MAVEN mission, some solar wind protons can slip past the bow shock by first bonding with electrons from the Mars upper atmosphere to form hydrogen atoms. Because these hydrogen atoms are electrically neutral, they can pass through the bow shock and go on to create an ultraviolet proton aurora on the dayside of Mars.Learn more about MAVEN's observation of a proton aurora at Mars. ||

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  • 
    ID: 20252 Animation

    Phobos Electric Charging

    Oct. 18th, 2017
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    The interaction of the solar wind with the Martian moon Phobos creates a complex electrical environment that could impact future exploration. Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Innovations" by Pascal Lengagne || Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both are small, airless bodies with irregular shapes. Because they lack protective atmospheres and magnetospheres, Phobos and Deimos are directly exposed to the solar wind for part of their orbits. The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles constantly blowing off the surface of the sun at about a million miles per hour; as it collides with the moons, it is thought to create complex electrical environments.Now, a simulation by William Farrell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has revealed the details of Phobos's interaction with the solar wind. The simulation predicts that static electric charging occurs on the night side of Phobos and within its shadowed craters. Phobos is frequently cited as a target for future exploration, but according to the study, any robots or humans roving around the night side could build up static electric charge that might affect sensitive equipment. Mission planners will have to face this challenge as they set their sights on the moons of Mars.Learn more about the finding from NASA or read the science paper by Farrell et al. ||

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  • 
    ID: 12392 Produced Video

    Ultraviolet Mars Reveals Cloud Formation

    Oct. 17th, 2016
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Ultraviolet images from NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, MAVEN, were used to make this movie of rapid cloud formation on Mars. Watch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel. || Images from MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph were used to make this movie of rapid cloud formation on Mars on July 9-10, 2016. The ultraviolet colors of the planet have been rendered in false color, to show what we would see with ultraviolet-sensitive eyes. The movie uses four MAVEN images to show about 7 hours of Mars rotation during this period, and interleaves simulated views that would be seen between the four images. Mars' day is similar to Earth’s, so the movie shows just over a quarter day. The left part of the planet is in morning and the right side in afternoon. Mars’ prominent volcanoes, topped with white clouds, can be seen moving across the disk. Mars’ tallest volcano, Olympus Mons, appears as a prominent dark region near the top of the images, with a small white cloud at the summit that grows during the day. Olympus Mons appears dark because the volcano rises up above much of the hazy atmosphere which makes the rest of the planet appear lighter. Three more volcanoes appear in a diagonal row, with their cloud cover merging to span up to a thousand miles by the end of the day. These images are particularly interesting because they show how rapidly and extensively the clouds topping the volcanoes form in the afternoon. Similar processes occur at Earth, with the flow of winds over mountains creating clouds. Afternoon cloud formation is a common occurrence in the American West, especially during the summer. ||

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  • 
    ID: 12266 Produced Video

    Mars Evolution from Wet to Dry for Planetariums

    May 24th, 2016
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Mars transitions from a wet planet early in its history to the dry world that we see today. This animation has been formatted for planetarium full-dome presentations, rendered for unidirectional domes in a variety of resolutions, up to 4K. || Ancient regions on Mars bear signs of abundant water - such as features resembling valleys and deltas, and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water. Scientists think that billions of years ago, the atmosphere of Mars was much denser and warm enough to form rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans of water. As the planet cooled and lost its global magnetic field, the solar wind and solar storms eroded away to space a significant amount of the planet’s atmosphere, turning Mars into the cold, arid desert we see today. The goal of MAVEN is to determine how much of Mars’ atmosphere and water have been lost to space, and how these processes have changed the climate on the Red Planet over its history. ||

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  • 
    ID: 12046 Produced Video

    Stripping the Martian Atmosphere

    Nov. 10th, 2015
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    A NASA mission reveals how gases in Mars' upper atmosphere are stripped away by the sun's solar wind. || Mars today is a cold, barren desert, but scientists think it was once a warm and wet planet. The change may have been caused by the loss of an early atmosphere driven into space by the sun’s solar wind. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field that deflects the stream of charged particles continuously blowing off the sun. Instead, the solar wind crashes into the planet’s upper atmosphere, stripping away electrically charged gas atoms, called ions. NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, which entered orbit around Mars in September 2014, measures the speed and direction of escaping ions to observe the process of how Mars’ atmosphere is eroded by the solar wind. Measurements show the rate of ion loss increases during periods of extreme solar activity, suggesting a younger and more active sun billions of years ago likely played a significant role in transforming the Red Planet. Watch the video for a simulation showing the process of Mars’ atmospheric erosion. ||

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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: 11992 Produced Video

    Mapping Mars' Upper Atmosphere

    Sept. 2nd, 2015
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Principal Investigator Bruce Jakosky talks about MAVEN’s science observations at Mars.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. || High above the thin Martian skies, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft is carrying out a mission: determine how Mars lost its early atmosphere, and with it, its water. While previous Mars orbiters have peered down at the planet’s surface, MAVEN is spending part of its time gazing at the stars, looking for subtle changes in their color as they dip through the limb of Mars and set below the horizon. Such stellar occultations reveal what the atmosphere is made of, and how its composition varies with altitude. MAVEN’s observations are providing the most detailed picture of the Mars upper atmosphere to date, helping scientists understand how Mars turned from a warm and wet planet in its youth, into the forbidding desert that we see today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 11603 Produced Video

    Investigating the Martian Atmosphere

    Sept. 17th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    The Martian surface bears ample evidence of flowing water in its youth, from crater lakes and riverbeds to minerals that only form in water. But today Mars is cold and dry, and scientists think that the loss of Mars' water may have been caused by the loss of its early atmosphere. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission, or MAVEN, will be the first spacecraft devoted to studying the Red Planet's upper atmosphere, in an effort to understand how the Martian climate has changed over time. ||

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  • 
    ID: 20201 Animation

    Mars Transition

    Nov. 13th, 2013
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Billions of years ago when the Red Planet was young, it appears to have had a thick atmosphere that was warm enough to support oceans of liquid water – a critical ingredient for life. The animation shows how the surface of Mars might have appeared during this ancient clement period, beginning with a flyover of a Martian lake. The artist's concept is based on evidence that Mars was once very different. Rapidly moving clouds suggest the passage of time, and the shift from a warm and wet to a cold and dry climate is shown as the animation progresses. The lakes dry up, while the atmosphere gradually transitions from Earthlike blue skies to the dusty pink and tan hues seen on Mars today. ||

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• Sources

  • 
    ID: 4414 Visualization

    The Mars Fleet

    March 21st, 2016
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    A fleet of landers, rovers, and orbiters is exploring the Red Planet, providing mission controllers with a remote presence on Mars. This visualization is available for download in 4K Ultra HD. || A fleet of robotic spacecraft is exploring the Red Planet, sending back an ever-growing flood of data. While rovers like Curiosity blaze tracks through the fine Martian soil, orbiters like MAVEN and MRO circle high overhead, gazing down at the planet's atmosphere and surface and relaying ground-based data back to Earth. The Mars fleet is providing mission controllers at NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Indian Space Research Organisation with a remote presence on Mars.This visualization shows the landing sites of NASA's past and present landers and rovers; the nearly circular orbits of NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; the elliptical orbits of NASA's MAVEN satellite and ESA's Mars Express; and the highly elliptical path of ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission. The orbits of Mars' two moons, Phobos and Deimos, are also depicted.Learn more about NASA's Mars Exploration Program. ||

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  • 
    ID: 13625 Produced Video

    First Map of Mars Electric Currents

    May 25th, 2020
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    MAVEN data have enabled the first map of the electric current systems (blue and red arrows) that shape the induced magnetic field surrounding Mars.Credit: NASA/Goddard/MAVEN/CU Boulder/SVSUniversal Production Music: “A Lucid Dream” and “Shimmer Oscillations” by James Joshua OttoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Five years after NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft entered into orbit around Mars, data from the mission has led to the creation of a map of electric current systems in the Martian atmosphere. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a protective global magnetic field to shield its upper atmosphere from the solar wind. Instead, the solar wind crashes into the upper atmosphere and its magnetic field lines drape around the planet. This creates an induced magnetosphere that tugs on charged particles in the Mars upper atmosphere, generating electric currents. Now, MAVEN’s detailed measurements of the magnetic environment surrounding Mars have revealed the shape of these electric currents for the first time.Read the science paper in Nature Astronomy. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4742 Visualization

    SVS Demo Reel

    July 25th, 2019
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    This is the SVS Demo Reel presented at SIGGRAPH 2019 in Los Angeles, CA. ||

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  • 
    ID: 12397 Produced Video

    Mars' Magnetic Tail

    Feb. 4th, 2019
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Mars' magnetic tail is shaped and twisted by the solar wind. || Magnetic fields around planets are a shielding buffer between the surface and the stream of charged particles that emanate from the Sun and bathe the solar system. Earth's magnetic field surrounds the whole planet, but Mars lost its global magnetic field billions of years ago and what remains is a patchwork of smaller remnant magnetic fields embedded in certain regions of its surface. On the dark side of the planet, these fields stream into a magnetic tail – with a twist. NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft has observed Mars' magnetic tail that is shaped by the solar wind. As it flows past Mars carrying its own magnetic fields, the solar wind interacts with the magnetic fields on the Martian surface and causes a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection, which puts a 45-degree twist in Mars' magnetic tail. Researchers believe this same process may also slowly strip away Mars' atmosphere. Like a stretched rubber band suddenly snapping to a new shape, magnetic reconnection releases energy, which could actively propel ions in the Martian atmosphere down the magnetotail into space. Explore the images to learn more. ||

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  • 
    ID: 12804 Produced Video

    SEEC AAS Hyperwall Presentation January 2018

    March 15th, 2018
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    This animation illustrates the Kepler-186 system, whose fifth world is the first Earth-sized exoplanet to be found orbiting within its star’s habitable zone. The animation closes with a simulated image from a coronagraph showing how such a planet might appear when directly imaged.Credit: NASA/Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech || This illustration shows how the spectrum of light reflected by Earth can tell scientists about the planet's characteristics.Credit: NASA || || Illustration showing the spectra of several planets in our solar system, whose individual characteristics shape the light we detect.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center ||

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