MAVEN's STATIC instrument measures escape of particles from Mars' upper atmosphere

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STATIC on MAVEN — Photo Credit – NASA’s MAVEN Mission to Mars and Jim McFadden/UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab. The STATIC instrument can be seen on the right side of the MAVEN APP, Articulated Payload Platform

‪#‎MAVEN‬’s Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC) instrument is measuring the composition and energy of ions as the spacecraft passes through various layers of Mars’ upper atmosphere.
The series of graphs presented here shows the composition and energy of ions as the MAVEN spacecraft moved from low (~250 km) to higher (~500 km) altitudes. At the higher altitudes, the ions have been accelerated, as indicated by their higher energy. We are seeing the acceleration from low-energy to higher energy as the ions are driven to escape speeds.

For all the latest released results from the #MAVEN mission.

STATIC Data — Image credit: Jim McFadden/UC Berkeley-Space Sciences Laboratory

By: Sam Silver
January 6, 2015

MAVEN's STATIC instrument measures escape of particles from Mars' upper atmosphere

Space Sciences Laboratory
at the University of California, Berkeley

SSL is not open to the public. Please contact our administrative team at spacesciencesadmins@ssl.berkeley.edu should you need access to our lab.

MAVEN's STATIC instrument measures escape of particles from Mars' upper atmosphere

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Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley

SSL is not open to the public. Please contact our administrative team at spacesciencesadmins@ssl.berkeley.edu should you need access to our lab.​

Space Sciences Laboratory
at the University of California, Berkeley

SSL is not open to the public. Please contact our administrative team at spacesciencesadmins@ssl.berkeley.edu should you need access to our lab.