Mars' Lost Atmosphere: MAVEN Probe Scientist Explains New Finding

The MAVEN spacecraft recently revealed that Mars' once-thick atmosphere was stripped away by powerful solar activity at some time in its history. "MAVEN has been focused on trying to understand the changing Mars climate," Jakosky told Space.com. The new findings from MAVENshow that the Martian atmosphere was lost to space, with large amounts stripped away by strong solar activity — as opposed to the atmosphere going down into the soil.