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Watch: Simulation shows how sun robbed Mars of atmosphere

Nasa's Mars-orbiting Maven spacecraft has discovered that the sun robbed the red planet of its once-thick atmosphere and water. On Friday, scientists reported that even today, the solar wind is stripping away about 100 grams of atmospheric gas every second. That's about a quarter-pound a second. Maven scientist Dave Brain told reporters he can't help but imagine hamburgers shooting out of the Martian atmosphere.NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has observed this process in action – by measuring the speed and direction of ions escaping from Mars. This data visualization compares simulations of the solar wind and Mars atmospheric escape with new measurements taken by MAVEN. Source: NASA Goddard/Youtube

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