NASA’s MAVEN mission – Astronomy Now

MAVEN’s orbit lowered to support Mars 2020 data relay

16 February 2019 William Harwood

NASA is using aerobraking to lower the orbit of the agency’s MAVEN Mars orbiter to support data relay operations with the upcoming Mars 2020 rover.

Martian dust storms may play role in atmosphere loss

29 January 2018 Astronomy Now

Periodic global dust storms on Mars may play a role in the ongoing loss of the planet’s atmosphere, according to data collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

“Electric wind” can strip Earth-like planets of oceans and atmospheres

21 June 2016 Astronomy Now

The space environment around a planet plays a key role in determining what molecules exist in the atmosphere – and whether the planet is habitable for life. New research shows that Venus has an “electric wind” strong enough to remove the components of water from its upper atmosphere, which may have played a significant role in stripping Earth’s twin planet of its oceans.

Blue aurorae in Mars’ sky visible to the naked eye

30 May 2015 Astronomy Now

For the first time, an international team of scientists from NASA, the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble (IPAG), the European Space Agency and Aalto University in Finland, have predicted that colourful, glowing aurorae can be seen by the naked eye on a terrestrial planet other than Earth — Mars.