Nov. 6, 2009: Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed the planet and kept it warm. Living microbes might have even arisen, some scientists believe, starting Mars down the path toward becoming a second life-filled planet next door to our own.
But that's not how things turned out.
Mars today is bitter cold and bone dry. The rivers and seas are long gone. Its atmosphere is thin and wispy, and if Martian microbes still exist, they're probably eking out a meager existence somewhere beneath the dusty Martian soil.
Planetary scientists believe that waterfalls may have once cascaded down these steep cliffs at Echus Chasma on Mars. Mars has many desiccated landscapes like this one, thought to have been sculpted by abundant water in the distant past. Photo credit: Mars Express/ESA.
An artist's concept of solar wind blowing away the atmosphere of Mars. This is just one of several plausible explanations for what happened to the Red Planet
The loss of martian atmosphere could be caused by a complex set of mechanisms working simultaneously. MAVEN is equipped with eight different sensors designed to sort out the confusion.
THESE ARE ONLY SOME BASED FIGURES ABOUT THE MAVEN STORY IN MARS PLANET.
FOR THE LONG AND FULL STORY,
PLEASE VISIT:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/06nov_maven.htm?list120182
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