Ever since scientists discovered evidence of water on Mars, they’ve been trying to figure out what happened to it. Now, they’re one step closer to figuring that out.
Observations from NASA’s MAVEN satellite – currently orbiting Mars – show that solar winds are blowing the atmosphere away from the planet.
It’s believed the red planet was once covered in water. But as the atmosphere went away, so did the water.
MAVEN Principle Investigator Bruce Jakowsky says the findings are important in discovering the history of Mars.
"If we want to look backward in time we can’t just extrapolate the process, the escape rate, without understanding how escape is occurring," says Jakowsky. "For the first time we have measurements that tell us not only the escape rate of gas out the top of the atmosphere lost to space, but the processes that control it."
Currently, the atmosphere of Mars loses about a quarter-pound of atoms each day.
The Earth is subjected to these same solar winds, but an active magnetic field protects us from atmospheric loss.
LISTEN: Jim Garvin, Chief Scientist NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, explains what MAVEN's findings mean for future Mars exploration.
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