Mars
MAVEN Mission
In December 2022, NASA’s Mars-orbiting MAVEN mission observed the dramatic and unexpected “disappearance” of the solar wind, a st...
December 11, 2023
In December 2022, NASA’s Mars-orbiting MAVEN mission observed the dramatic and unexpected “disappearance” of the solar wind, a stream of charged particles that continuously emanates from the Sun.
A zoomed in view of MAVEN’s orbit during a period of low solar wind.
December 11, 2023
A zoomed in view of MAVEN’s orbit during a period of low solar wind.
NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission acquired stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different po...
June 22, 2023
NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission acquired stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along our neighboring planet’s orbit around the Sun.
Left column: From top to bottom, MAVEN data showing solar wind, solar energetic particles, proton aurora strength, diffuse aurora strength. On Augu...
November 09, 2022
Left column: From top to bottom, MAVEN data showing solar wind, solar energetic particles, proton aurora strength, diffuse aurora strength. On August 30th, a solar storm (a coronal mass ejection) impacted Mars and an increase in the solar inputs a...
This illustration shows how water is lost on Mars normally vs. during regional or global dust storms.
November 13, 2020
This illustration shows how water is lost on Mars normally vs. during regional or global dust storms.
This graph shows how the amount of water in the atmosphere of Mars varies depending on the season.
November 13, 2020
This graph shows how the amount of water in the atmosphere of Mars varies depending on the season.
This is an image of the ultraviolet “nightglow” in the Martian atmosphere over the south pole. Green and white false colors represent t...
August 06, 2020
This is an image of the ultraviolet “nightglow” in the Martian atmosphere over the south pole. Green and white false colors represent the intensity of ultraviolet light, with white being the brightest.
This is an image of the ultraviolet “nightglow” in the Martian atmosphere. Green and white false colors represent the intensity of ultr...
August 06, 2020
This is an image of the ultraviolet “nightglow” in the Martian atmosphere. Green and white false colors represent the intensity of ultraviolet light, with white being the brightest.
The diagram explains the cause of Mars’ glowing nightside atmosphere.
August 06, 2020
The diagram explains the cause of Mars’ glowing nightside atmosphere.
This image is from a scientific visualization of the electric currents around Mars.
May 25, 2020
This image is from a scientific visualization of the electric currents around Mars.
Graphic illustrating the MAVEN spacecraft encountering plasma layers at Mars.
February 03, 2020
Graphic illustrating the MAVEN spacecraft encountering plasma layers at Mars.
Conceptual image of wind (blue arrows) flowing over rugged Martian terrain and generating disturbances that propagate upward as atmospheric gravity...
December 12, 2019
Conceptual image of wind (blue arrows) flowing over rugged Martian terrain and generating disturbances that propagate upward as atmospheric gravity waves (grey lines).
Computer-generated visualization of the orbital paths (white dots) taken by the MAVEN spacecraft as it mapped winds (blue lines) in the Martian upp...
December 12, 2019
Computer-generated visualization of the orbital paths (white dots) taken by the MAVEN spacecraft as it mapped winds (blue lines) in the Martian upper atmosphere.
Images of Mars proton aurora.
This illustration shows the MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars.
April 05, 2019
This illustration shows the MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars.
Aerobraking plan for MAVEN
NASA Science missions circle Earth, the Sun, the Moon, Mars and many other destinations within our solar system, including spacecraft that look out...
November 21, 2018
NASA Science missions circle Earth, the Sun, the Moon, Mars and many other destinations within our solar system, including spacecraft that look out even further into our universe. The Science Fleet depicts the scope of NASA's activity and how our ...
Download a coloring sheet of NASA MAVEN orbiter and Curiosity rover working together at Mars.
November 01, 2018
Download a coloring sheet of NASA MAVEN orbiter and Curiosity rover working together at Mars.
MAVEN selfie with Mars in the background.
September 21, 2018
MAVEN selfie with Mars in the background.
MAVEN selfie composite, annotated
MAVEN selfie composite, unannotated
MAVEN observations of a proton aurora. In the top panel, natural variability of the solar wind results in occasional dense flows of solar wind prot...
July 23, 2018
MAVEN observations of a proton aurora. In the top panel, natural variability of the solar wind results in occasional dense flows of solar wind protons bombarding Mars.
This animation shows a proton aurora at Mars. First, a solar wind proton approaches Mars at high speed and encounters a cloud of hydrogen surroundi...
July 23, 2018
This animation shows a proton aurora at Mars. First, a solar wind proton approaches Mars at high speed and encounters a cloud of hydrogen surrounding the planet.
To receive the same amount of starlight as Mars receives from our Sun, a planet orbiting an M-type red dwarf would have to be positioned much close...
December 13, 2017
To receive the same amount of starlight as Mars receives from our Sun, a planet orbiting an M-type red dwarf would have to be positioned much closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun.
Artist's conception of the complex magnetic field environment at Mars.
October 19, 2017
Artist's conception of the complex magnetic field environment at Mars.
These profiles show the brightness of auroras in Mars' atmosphere at different altitudes. The solid black profile on the right is from a September ...
September 29, 2017
These profiles show the brightness of auroras in Mars' atmosphere at different altitudes. The solid black profile on the right is from a September 2017 solar storm. Barely visible along the vertical axis is a dashed profile from the previous brigh...
Energetic particles from a large solar storm in September 2017 were seen both in Mars orbit by NASA's MAVEN orbiter, and on the surface of Mars by ...
September 29, 2017
Energetic particles from a large solar storm in September 2017 were seen both in Mars orbit by NASA's MAVEN orbiter, and on the surface of Mars by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
These images from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's MAVEN orbiter show the appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm ...
September 29, 2017
These images from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's MAVEN orbiter show the appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm in September 2017. The purple-white colors shows the intensity of ultraviolet light on Mars' night s...
This animation shows the sudden appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm. The purple-white color scheme shows the intensity of ul...
September 29, 2017
This animation shows the sudden appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm. The purple-white color scheme shows the intensity of ultraviolet light over the course of the event, from observations on Sept. 12 and 13, 2017, by the Ima...
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft measured light and heavy isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere, allowing scientists to determine that the majority of...
March 30, 2017
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft measured light and heavy isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere, allowing scientists to determine that the majority of the planet's air was lost to space.
This image shows atomic hydrogen scattering sunlight in the upper atmosphere of Mars, as seen by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's Mar...
October 19, 2016
This image shows atomic hydrogen scattering sunlight in the upper atmosphere of Mars, as seen by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission.
MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph obtained images of rapid cloud formation on Mars on July 9-10, 2016.
October 17, 2016
MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph obtained images of rapid cloud formation on Mars on July 9-10, 2016.
This image of the Mars night side shows ultraviolet emission from nitric oxide (abbreviated NO)
October 17, 2016
This image of the Mars night side shows ultraviolet emission from nitric oxide (abbreviated NO)
This ultraviolet image near Mars' South Pole was taken by MAVEN on July 10 2016 and shows the atmosphere and surface during southern spring.
October 17, 2016
This ultraviolet image near Mars' South Pole was taken by MAVEN on July 10 2016 and shows the atmosphere and surface during southern spring.
Images from MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph were used to make this movie of rapid cloud formation on Mars on July 9-10, 2016.
October 17, 2016
Images from MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph were used to make this movie of rapid cloud formation on Mars on July 9-10, 2016.
MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph obtained this image of Mars on July 13, 2016, when the planet appeared nearly full when viewed from the hi...
October 03, 2016
MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph obtained this image of Mars on July 13, 2016, when the planet appeared nearly full when viewed from the highest altitudes in the MAVEN orbit.
The close encounter between comet Siding Spring and Mars flooded the planet with an invisible tide of charged particles from the comet's coma. The ...
March 09, 2016
The close encounter between comet Siding Spring and Mars flooded the planet with an invisible tide of charged particles from the comet's coma. The dense inner coma reached the surface of the planet, or nearly so. The comet's powerful magnetic fiel...
Phobos as observed by MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph.
February 29, 2016
Phobos as observed by MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph.
The orbit of MAVEN sometimes crosses the orbit of Phobos. This image shows the configuration of the two orbits in early December 2015, when MAVEN's...
February 29, 2016
The orbit of MAVEN sometimes crosses the orbit of Phobos. This image shows the configuration of the two orbits in early December 2015, when MAVEN's Phobos observations were made.
This graphic depicts paths by which carbon has been exchanged among Martian interior, surface rocks, polar caps, waters and atmosphere, and also de...
November 24, 2015
This graphic depicts paths by which carbon has been exchanged among Martian interior, surface rocks, polar caps, waters and atmosphere, and also depicts a mechanism by which it is lost from the atmosphere with a strong effect on isotope ratio.
Artist's rendering of a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the planet's upper atmosphere.
November 05, 2015
Artist's rendering of a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the planet's upper atmosphere.
This artist's concept depicts the early Martian environment (left) - believed to contain liquid water and a thicker atmosphere - versus the cold, d...
July 30, 2015
This artist's concept depicts the early Martian environment (left) - believed to contain liquid water and a thicker atmosphere - versus the cold, dry environment seen at Mars today (right).
A map of MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on Mars' surface.
May 11, 2015
A map of MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on Mars' surface.
This graphic depicts the relative shapes and distances from Mars for five active orbiter missions plus the planet's two natural satellites. It illu...
May 04, 2015
This graphic depicts the relative shapes and distances from Mars for five active orbiter missions plus the planet's two natural satellites. It illustrates the potential for intersections of the spacecraft orbits.
A map of MAVEN's IUVS's auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on Mars' surface.
March 18, 2015
A map of MAVEN's IUVS's auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on Mars' surface.
Artist's conception of MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) observing the "Christmas Lights Aurora" on Mars. MAVEN observations ...
March 18, 2015
Artist's conception of MAVEN's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) observing the "Christmas Lights Aurora" on Mars. MAVEN observations show that aurora on Mars is similar to Earth's "Northern Lights" but has a different origin.
NASA's MAVEN mission is observing the upper atmosphere of Mars to help understand climate change on the planet. MAVEN entered its science phase on ...
December 15, 2014
NASA's MAVEN mission is observing the upper atmosphere of Mars to help understand climate change on the planet. MAVEN entered its science phase on Nov. 16, 2014.
The first demonstration of NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter's capability to relay data from a Mars surface mission, on Nov. 6, 2014, included this and oth...
November 10, 2014
The first demonstration of NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter's capability to relay data from a Mars surface mission, on Nov. 6, 2014, included this and other images from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. The image was taken Oct. 23, 2014, by Curiosity's Naviga...
This artist concept depicts NASA's Space Launch System, which will be the most powerful rocket ever built. It is designed to boost the agency's Ori...
November 07, 2014
This artist concept depicts NASA's Space Launch System, which will be the most powerful rocket ever built. It is designed to boost the agency's Orion spacecraft on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and, ultimately, to Mars.
This graphic depicts what Mars' atmosphere would have looked like to a viewer with ultraviolet-seeing eyes after a meteor shower on Oct. 19, 2014. ...
November 07, 2014
This graphic depicts what Mars' atmosphere would have looked like to a viewer with ultraviolet-seeing eyes after a meteor shower on Oct. 19, 2014. It combines an image from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's MAVEN spacecraft with an il...
