First Light for MAVEN   
       
   Oct 10, 2014:  After 10-month voyage across more than 400 million miles of   
   empty space, NASA's MAVEN spacecraft reached Mars on Sept. 21st 2014.  Less   
   than 8 hours later, the data started to flow.   
       
   "Our Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) obtained these false-color images   
   of Mars on Sept. 22nd," says Nick Schneider who leads the instrument team at   
   the University of Colorado. "They trace the distribution of hydrogen and   
   oxygen in the Martian atmosphere."   
       
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ez2G5Efus&feature=youtu.be   
       
   A new ScienceCast video presents MAVEN's first observations of the Martian   
   atmosphere.  Play it   
       
   MAVEN is on a mission to investigate a planetary mystery. Billions of years   
   ago, Mars was blanketed by an atmosphere massive enough to warm the planet and   
   allow liquid water to flow on its surface. Life could have thrived in such an   
   environment. Today, however, only a tiny fraction of that ancient air remains,   
   leaving Mars a desiccated wasteland.   
       
   What happened to the atmosphere of Mars? MAVEN will attempt to answer the   
   question by studying the upper atmosphere, where gaseous material could be   
   lost to space.   
       
   Schneider explains what the IUVS saw in its first look: "The oxygen gas is   
   held close to the planet by Mars' gravity, while lighter hydrogen gas expands   
   to higher altitudes and extends past the edges of the image. These gases come   
   from the breakdown of water and carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere."   
       
   Among researchers, a popular candidate for atmospheric loss is space weather:   
   Eons of solar storms and the relentless buffeting of solar wind might have   
   stripped away much of the Martian atmosphere.   
       
   The IUVS might be able to see this process in action, especially in the   
   aftermath of a CME strike.   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/#.U-lkt2MYmsM   
       
   Click to visit the MAVEN home pageA CME, or coronal mass ejection, is a   
   billion-ton cloud of ionized gas blasted away from the sun in the aftermath of   
   a solar flare.  When CMEs hit Earth, they rattle our planet's magnetic field,   
   causing Northern Lights and, in extreme cases, power blackouts.   
       
   Unlike Earth, Mars has no global magnetic field to protect it.  For the most   
   part, the Martian atmosphere is unshielded. That's why gusts of solar wind and   
   CME strikes could strip material away.   
       
   "MAVEN's primary science goal is to see how the atmosphere responds to solar   
   forcing," says Bruce Jakosky, the Principal Investigator for MAVEN. "So on the   
   one hand, a CME might strip the outermost layers of the atmosphere. On the   
   other, it might also energize the atmosphere below and repopulate the extended   
   atmosphere with a lot of new material."   
       
   Either way, he says, "we expect to see something."   
       
   The instrument is also capable of observing Martian auroras.  Here on Earth,   
   auroras ring the magnetic poles, north and south.  Mars, however, has a   
   different magnetic structure.  There is no coherent global magnetic field.   
   Instead, Mars has a patchwork of magnetic umbrellas that sprout out of the   
   surface in hundreds of places all around the planet.  If Martian auroras   
   occur, they would appear in the canopies of those umbrellas.   
       
   "We are on the edges of our seats, hoping for our first detection," says   
   Schneider.   
       
   Having just reached Mars, MAVEN is still in its commissioning phase.   
   Instruments are being checked out, the spacecraft's orbit is being adjusted.   
   The fact that data are already arriving at Earth is an impressive achievement.   
       
   This is just the beginning.  IUVS is only one of three instrument suites on   
   MAVEN.  The Neutral Gas and Ion Spectrometer from the Goddard Space Flight   
   Center and the Particles and Fields Package from UC Berkeley will soon be   
   making their own revelations about Mars.   
       
   Stay tuned for updates.   
       
   Credits:   
   Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit:   
   Science@NASA   
       
   More information:   
       
   NASA Science Fleet Prepares for Mars Comet -- Science@NASA   
       
   Colliding Atmospheres: Mars vs. Comet Siding Spring -- Science@NASA   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)