Planets and Moons ID: 20302

Mars Wind Currents Reveal a Surprising Feature - Animations

Released on December 12, 2019

MAVEN is the first spacecraft specifically designed to study the Mars upper atmosphere, in order to better understand the evolution of its climate. Now, scientists have analyzed several years of data from MAVEN’s NGIMS instrument and produced the first map of wind currents in the Martian thermosphere (a layer of the upper atmosphere). This map led to an unexpected and surprising discovery – disturbances in high-altitude wind currents on Mars are caused by terrain features such as mountains and valleys on the planet’s surface.

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For More Information

NASA.gov

University of Colorado Boulder MAVEN website

Animation Credits

Jonathan North (USRA): Animator
Michael Lentz (USRA): Art Director
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Producer
Mehdi Benna (UMBC): Lead Scientist
Kali Roeten (University of Michigan): Scientist
Paul Mahaffy (NASA/GSFC): Support
Bruce Jakosky (LASP): Principal Investigator
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20302

Mission:
MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Mars
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Land Surface >> Topography >> Terrain Elevation
GCMD >> Location >> Thermosphere
SVS >> MAVEN
SVS >> Solar System >> Planets >> Mars >> Topography
SVS >> Wind Patterns
SVS >> Solar System >> Planets >> Mars >> Atmosphere
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons
SVS >> Conceptual Image Lab

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0