Solar Wind and Mars Bow Shock

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.

This simulation depicts the solar wind interacting with the Mars upper atmosphere, with MAVEN 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.

ANIMATED GIF - The Martian atmosphere during a proton aurora. || On Earth, the northern and southern lights occur when the solar wind (electrically charged particles from the Sun) follow our planet s observation of a proton aurora at Mars. || ANIMATED GIF - Mars proton aurora with data from the MAVEN Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) at bottom. Credit: NASA/MAVEN/University of Colorado/LASP/Anil Rao || ANIMATION - Mars proton aurora with data from the MAVEN Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) at bottom. Credit: NASA/MAVEN/University of Colorado/LASP/Anil RaoWatch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel. || ANIMATED GIF - Alternate version displaying all charge exchanges. || GRAPHIC - Protons from the solar wind approach the Martian upper atmosphere. || GRAPHIC - Solar wind protons undergo a series of charge exchanges to slip past the bow shock, causing a proton aurora.

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: 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. || Graphic of Mars and its moons. || Approach to Phobos. || Electrical field around Phobos. || Graphic of solar wind components. || Electrical field around Stickney crater. || Future rover on the surface of Phobos.

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 induced magnetic field (in blue)

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. || MAVEN gazes at the setting stars during one of its stellar occultation campaigns. || MAVEN campaigns, MAVEN lowers its closest approach to only 125 km above Mars, dipping into the upper atmosphere to measure it in situ. || When water molecules are split apart in the Martian atmosphere, the resulting hydrogen atoms escape more easily from the planet than the heavier oxygen atoms. || Before MAVEN entered its final science-mapping orbit, it observed carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen at varying altitudes above Mars. The heavier carbon and oxygen atoms cling tightly to Mars, while hydrogen atoms extend far above the planet.

NASA s upper atmosphere, in an effort to understand how the Martian climate has changed over time.

16x9 format || 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. || Cinemascope format