News Excerpt:
NASA's MAVEN orbiter has captured stunning purple auroras on Mars.
More about the news:
- The auroras appeared on Mars’ nightside, showing different aurora patterns due to its lack of magnetic field.
MAVEN Orbiter:
- NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, MAVEN, is an orbiter dedicated to studying Mars’ atmosphere.
- MAVEN was launched in November 2013 and arrived at Mars in September 2014.
- It was selected in September 2008, and was originally part of NASA's Mars Scout program, which aimed to send low-cost missions to the Red Planet.
- MAVEN was the 10th Mars orbiter launched by NASA, and it is now one of six active probes currently orbiting the Red Planet:
- NASA also has two rovers currently studying Mars from the surface of the planet: Opportunity and Curiosity.
- MAVEN carries eight science instruments specifically picked to investigate the Martian atmosphere, including Solar Energetic Particle, Solar Wind Ion Analyzer, SupraThermal and Thermal Ion Composition, Langmuir Probe and Waves, Solar Wind Electron Analyzer, Magnetometer, Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, and Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph.
- It also carries the Electra Communications Relay that will be a backup communications option for Curiosity and Opportunity.
- Observations:
- MAVEN is revealing how exactly Mars loses its atmosphere to space and providing clues on how and when the planet lost its water.
- The bulk of the atmospheric loss happened about 3.7 billion years ago, early in the solar system's history due to stronger solar storms and powerful ultraviolet light emissions.
- The orbiter also relays communications between surface missions and Earth.
- It also discovered a tangled magnetic tail behind Mars in 2017.
- Despite Mars' lack of a global magnetic field, full-sky auroras in ultraviolet and visible light may be possible.
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Auroras on Mars:
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