NASA’s MAVEN Makes 1st Discovery of Atmospheric Effect at Mars
18 May 2026, 17:09 GMT
Topic: Goddard Space Flight Center
Source URL: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/maven/nasas-maven-makes-1st-discovery-of-atmospheric-effect-at-mars/
In December 2023, scientists looking at Mars data stumbled across something completely unexpected — observations of an atmospheric effect never before seen in the Red Planet’s atmosphere. Using instruments aboard NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission, scientists identified a phenomenon known to occur in Earth’s magnetosphere, where charged particles are squeezed like toothpaste