Related papers: Could Cirrus Clouds Have Warmed Early Mars?
We investigate ionization and heating of gas in the dense, shielded clumps/cores of molecular clouds bathed by an influx of energetic, charged cosmic rays (CRs). These molecular clouds have complex structures, with substantial variation in…
Mars is the next milestone in human exploration. However, there are still several challenges that must be assessed to ensure appropriate conditions in a future settlement. Communications services will be essential for this task, providing…
This article is devoted to research the application of the spacecraft with a solar sail to support the certain climatic conditions in an area of the Mars surface. Authors propose principles of functioning of the spacecraft, intended to…
This work investigates a hybrid photovoltaic-wind-battery power system designed to sustain a Mars base under varying seasonal and climatic conditions. The Mars Climate Database was utilized to simulate the effects of seasonal changes,…
Mars today has no active volcanism and its atmosphere is oxidizing, dominated by the photochemistry of CO2 and H2O. Using a one-dimensional photochemical model, we consider whether plausible volcanic gas fluxes could have switched the…
During the Noachian, Mars' crust may have provided a favorable environment for microbial life. The porous brine-saturated regolith would have created a physical space sheltered from UV and cosmic radiations and provided a solvent, while the…
On Mars, a relatively pure water ice layer lies beneath several centimeters of dry soil at mid-latitudes. Its widespread presence poleward of 60{\deg} latitude was detected by remote neutron spectroscopy and confirmed by the Phoenix lander…
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) has now made continuous in-situ meteorological measurements for several martian years at Gale crater, Mars. Of importance in the search for liquid formation are…
The search for ephemeral liquid water on Mars is an ongoing activity. After the recession of the seasonal polar ice cap on Mars, small water ice patches may be left behind in shady places due to the low thermal conductivity of the Martian…
The deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H or 2H/1H) ratio of Martian atmospheric water (~6x standard mean ocean water, SMOW) is higher than that of known sources, requiring planetary enrichment. A recent measurement by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory…
Recent observations have evidenced traces of methane CH4 heterogeneously distributed in the martian atmosphere. However, because the lifetime of CH4 in the atmosphere of Mars is estimated to be around 300-600 years on the basis of…
Understanding surface temperature is important for habitability. Recent work on Mars has found that the dependence of surface temperature on elevation (surface lapse rate) converges to zero in the limit of a thin CO2 atmosphere. However,…
The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) instrument onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) ESA-Roscosmos mission began science operations in March 2018. ACS Mid InfraRed (MIR) channel notably provides solar occultation observations of the…
There may be a chance of small-scale ephemeral liquid water formation on present day Mars, even though the current climate does not support the existence of larger bodies of water. Through a process called deliquescence, hygroscopic salts…
Mars' tadpole craters are small, young craters whose crater rims are incised by one or more exit breaches but lack visible inlets. The tadpole forming climate records the poorly understood drying of Mars since the Early Hesperian. A third…
Wind is the process that connects Mars' climate system. Measurements of Mars atmospheric winds from orbit would dramatically advance our understanding of Mars and help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Multiple instrument…
With dayside temperatures hot enough to sustain a magma ocean and a silicate atmosphere, lava planets are the best targets to study the atmosphere of a rocky world. In the absence of nightside heating, the entire atmosphere collapses near…
Owing to their wavelengths dependent absorption and scattering properties, clouds have a strong impact on the climate of planetary atmospheres. Especially, the potential greenhouse effect of CO2 ice clouds in the atmospheres of terrestrial…
Robustly modeling the inner edge of the habitable zone is essential for determining the most promising potentially habitable exoplanets for atmospheric characterization. Global climate models (GCMs) have become the standard tool for…
Seasonal flows on warm slopes, or recurring slope lineae ("RSL"), have been presented as strong evidence for currently flowing water on Mars. This assumption was supported by a correlation between activity and warm temperatures, and by the…