Monday, November 9, 2015

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: The fascinating terror of the unknown

By Lisa Goudy

We now know the speed of the solar wind stripping the atmosphere on Mars.


On Thursday, data from NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) "enabled researchers to determine the rate at which the Martian atmosphere currently is losing gas to space via stripping by the solar wind. The findings reveal that the erosion of Mars' atmosphere increases significantly during solar storms," said a NASA release.


"MAVEN measurements indicate that the solar wind strips away gas at a rate of about 100 grams (equivalent to roughly 1/4 pound) every second."



This just goes to show that we're learning new things every day, making more known about what used to be an entirely unknown entity. These revelations are exciting, but what we have yet to discover can also be a little intimidating.

Read more

No comments:

Post a Comment