Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has observed two unexpected phenomena in the Martian atmosphere: an unexplained high-altitude dust cloud and aurora that reaches deep into the Martian atmosphere.
The presence of the dust at orbital altitudes from about 150 - 300 km (93 - 190 miles) above the surface was not predicted. Although the source and composition of the dust are unknown, there is no hazard to MAVEN and other spacecraft orbiting Mars, NASA said.
Laila Andersson of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospherics and Space Physics (CU LASP) in Boulder, Colorado said that if the dust originates from the atmosphere, this suggests we are missing some fundamental process in the Martian atmosphere.
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