On the evening time exosphere of Mars: result from MENCA aboard Mars Orbiter Mission

Abstract

The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) aboard the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is a quadrupole mass spectrometer which provides in situ measurement of the composition of the low-latitude Martian neutral exosphere. The altitude profiles of the three major constituents, i.e., amu 44 (CO₂), amu 28 (N₂ + CO), and amu 16 (O) in the Martian exosphere during evening (close to sunset terminator) hours are reported using MENCA observations from four orbits of MOM during late December 2014, when MOM's periapsis altitude was the lowest. The altitude range of the observation encompasses the diffusively separated region much above the well-mixed atmosphere. The transition from CO₂ to O-dominated region is observed near 270 km. The mean exospheric temperature derived using these three mass numbers is 271 ± 5 K. These first observations corresponding to the Martian evening hours would help to provide constraints to the thermal escape models.