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The MAVEN Solar Energetic Particle Investigation

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Abstract

The MAVEN Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) instrument is designed to measure the energetic charged particle input to the Martian atmosphere. SEP consists of two sensors mounted on corners of the spacecraft deck, each utilizing a dual, double-ended solid-state detector telescope architecture to separately measure fluxes of electrons from 20 to 1000 keV and ions from 20–6000 keV, in four orthogonal look directions, each with a field of view of \(42^{\circ}\) by \(31^{\circ}\). SEP, along with the rest of the MAVEN instrument suite, allows the effects of high energy solar particle events on Mars’ upper atmospheric structure, temperatures, dynamics and atmospheric escape rates, to be quantified and understood. Given that solar activity was likely substantially higher in the early solar system, understanding the relationship between energetic particle input and atmospheric loss today will enable more confident estimates of total atmospheric loss over Mars’ history.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Science Laboratory, University of California, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Davin E. Larson, Robert J. Lillis, Christina O. Lee, Patrick A. Dunn, Kenneth Hatch, Miles Robinson, David Glaser, David Curtis, Christopher Tiu, Robert P. Lin & Janet G. Luhmann

  2. Baja Technology LLC, 1040 East 4th St Gould-Simpson 235, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Jianxin Chen

  3. Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space, University of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    Bruce M. Jakosky

Authors
  1. Davin E. Larson
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  2. Robert J. Lillis
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  3. Christina O. Lee
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  4. Patrick A. Dunn
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  5. Kenneth Hatch
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  6. Miles Robinson
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  7. David Glaser
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  8. Jianxin Chen
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  9. David Curtis
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  10. Christopher Tiu
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  11. Robert P. Lin
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  12. Janet G. Luhmann
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  13. Bruce M. Jakosky
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Correspondence to Robert J. Lillis.

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Larson, D.E., Lillis, R.J., Lee, C.O. et al. The MAVEN Solar Energetic Particle Investigation. Space Sci Rev 195, 153–172 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0218-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0218-z

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