Tag Archives: ASPERA-3

Mars Express: Leaky atmosphere linked to lightweight planet

Posted on February 8, 2018 by rburnham

The Red Planet’s low gravity and lack of magnetic field makes its outermost atmosphere an easy target to be swept away by the solar wind, but new evidence from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft shows that the Sun’s radiation may play … Continue reading →

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Mars atmosphere well protected from solar wind

Posted on December 14, 2017 by rburnham

Despite the absence of a global Earth-like magnetic dipole, the Martian atmosphere is well protected from the effects of the solar wind on ion escape from the planet. New research shows this using measurements from the Swedish particle instrument ASPERA-3 … Continue reading →

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Does Mars’ bow shock location correlate with atmospheric dust?

Posted on August 23, 2017 by rburnham

A Lancaster University [UK] physicist has led an international study, based on data from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, which throws new light on the interaction between the planet Mars and supersonic particles in the solar wind. As the energetic particles … Continue reading →

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Mars ionosphere shaped by crustal magnetic fields

Posted on November 7, 2016 by rburnham

Scattered pockets of magnetism across the surface of Mars have a significant influence on the planet’s upper atmosphere, according to observations from ESA’s Mars Express. Understanding these effects may be crucial for ensuring safe radio communications between Mars and Earth … Continue reading →

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