Tag Archives: atmosphere

MARCI weather report, Nov 30-December 6, 2015

As is typical for the Northern Spring / Southern Autumn season on Mars, condensate water-ice clouds, associated with the aphelion cloud-belt, dominated the skies at equatorial latitudes last week. Small short-lived dust storms were observed over Meridiani and northwest of … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, November 23-29, 2015

Last week on Mars, a north polar arcuate shaped dust storm was observed dipping southward over Acidalia. Condensate water-ice clouds, associated with the developing aphelion cloud-belt, dominated the afternoon equatorial skies. Looking to the southern hemisphere, small amounts of ground … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, November 16-22, 2015

Afternoon water-ice clouds associated with the aphelion cloud-belt were more abundant for the past week on Mars. Dust-lifting activity near the northern polar ice cap led to murky conditions over Acidalia and the plains westward to those of Arcadia. Looking … Continue reading

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How Mars’ atmosphere lost its carbon

Mars is blanketed by a thin, mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere — one that is far too thin to keep water from freezing or quickly evaporating. However, geological evidence has led scientists to conclude that ancient Mars was once a warmer, … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, November 9-15, 2015

Scattered water-ice clouds across the equatorial regions of Mars this past week. Looking towards the western hemisphere, a large regional storm occurred over the northern plains at the beginning of the week. This storm quickly dissipated into a diffuse dust … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, November 2-8, 2015

At the beginning of last week, condensate water-ice clouds associated with the aphelion cloud-belt were spotted over Tharsis, Arabia, and Syrtis Major. During this time, dust lifting activity was also observed over Aonia. At the end of the week, three … Continue reading

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MAVEN measures speed & rate of Mars atmosphere loss by solar wind stripping

The MAVEN mission has identified the process that appears to have played a key role in the transition of the Martian climate from an early, warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life to the cold, arid planet … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, Oct 26-Nov 1, 2015

Weather conditions were relatively unchanged from last week. A small dust lifting event was spotted over the plains of Elysium. Dust haze and water-ice clouds were observed along the edge of the defrosting north polar ice cap throughout the week. … Continue reading

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NASA briefing on fate of Mars atmosphere, Nov 5

NASA will provide details of key science findings from the agency’s ongoing exploration of Mars during a news briefing at 2 p.m. EST (19:00 UTC) on Thursday, Nov. 5, in the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, October 19-25, 2015

For the past week on Mars, afternoon water-ice clouds across the equatorial regions continued to linger over high elevation terrain. A small short-lived dust lifting event was observed over Hesperia Planum. Looking to the north, a couple dust lifting events … Continue reading

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