Abstract:
MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution missioN) is in its science
mapping orbit and has observed Martian upper atmosphere since the start
of its primary mission on Nov. 16, 2014. In last November, special
issues in Science and GRL on MAVEN initial results were released. MAVEN
is the mission which carries a full set of instruments to conduct
in-situ plasma and upper atmospheric observations in order to understand
current state of upper atmosphere and atmospheric escape from Mars,
which will give us important clues to understand a drastic change of
Martian environment in the past.
In this presentation, a review of the highlights of the MAVEN results
such as dynamic variation of Martian upper atmosphere and newly
discovered aurora will be introduced.