MUADEE: A discovery-class mission for exploration of the upper atmosphere of Mars

Abstract

MUADEE, an acronym for Mars Upper Atmosphere Dynamics, Energetics, and Evolution, was recently selected by NASA as one of several candidates for future Discovery-class missions. MUADEE will use a combination of simple remote and in situ instruments to explore for the first time the Martian upper atmosphere between 60 and 200 km. An understanding of the Dynamics and Energetics of this region will require measurements of atmospheric tides, gravity waves, global circulation and temperature. An understanding of atmospheric Evolution will require an evaluation of the thermal and non-thermal atmospheric escape rates based on measurements of constituent energies and the isotopic ratios of certain atoms. MUADEE will be complementary to the planned Planet B and Mars 94 missions which will focus on the ionosphere, magnetosphere, and solar wind interactions with the planet. MUADEE will also be complementary to the new Mars Surveyor mission which will provide remote measurements of the lower atmosphere. This paper briefly outlines the results of the MUADEE feasibility study that was recently completed by a consortium of scientists and engineers from the University of Michigan, Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation (our industrial partner), the Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and co-investigators from the University of Colorado, the University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Arizona.