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Instruments

Instruments

MAVEN’s three instrument packages provide comprehensive measurements essential to understanding the evolution of the Martian atmosphere. MAVEN will determine the amount and types of gas particles escaping Mars’ atmosphere today, the processes that govern the escape, and how these escape processes have contributed to Mars’ climate evolution throughout its history.

The three instrument suites include:

The Particles and Fields Package, built by the University of California, Berkeley/Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) with support from the University of Colorado Boulder/Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), contains six instruments that will characterize the solar wind and the ionosphere of the planet:

  • Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA)
  • Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA)
  • Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC)
  • Solar Energetic Particle (SEP)
  • Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW)
    • Extreme Ultraviolet Monitor (EUV)
  • Magnetometer (MAG)

The Remote Sensing Package, built by LASP, will determine global characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere via remote sensing.

  • Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS)

The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS), provided by GFSC, will measure the composition and isotopes of neutral ions.

MAVEN's suite of instruments will provide the measurements essential to understanding the evolution of the Martian atmosphere. (Courtesy LASP/MAVEN)
MAVEN’s suite of instruments will provide the measurements essential to understanding the evolution of the Martian atmosphere. (Courtesy LASP/MAVEN)