Facts about MAVEN

1. 07

   MAVEN's five-instrument payload includes a Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition spectrometer that measures ionospheric ions ranging from 0.5 to 30 electron volts to track atmospheric escape mechanisms.

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2. 06

   At 4.8 billion kilometers from Earth, MAVEN completed its primary two-year mission in November 2015 and continues operating as an extended mission studying Mars's atmospheric dynamics.

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3. 05

   MAVEN's ultraviolet spectrograph measures hydrogen and oxygen escaping Mars's upper atmosphere by observing their distinctive emissions at 121.6 and 130.4 nanometers.

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4. 04

   Over 10 billion kilograms of atmosphere escape Mars annually due to solar wind stripping, a process MAVEN quantifies through its magnetometer and particle instruments.

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5. 03

   MAVEN's Solar Energetic Particle sensor recorded Mars being struck by a solar storm in September 2017 that deposited enough energy to briefly increase atmospheric escape rates by a factor of ten.

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6. 02

   MAVEN's Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer detected argon-40 in Mars's upper atmosphere, providing evidence that the planet lost most of its primordial atmosphere.

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7. 01

   In November 2013, NASA's MAVEN spacecraft launched toward Mars to study the planet's atmospheric loss over 4.4 billion years.

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