New findings from NASA's Curiosity rover provide clues to
how Mars lost its original atmosphere, which scientists believe was much
thicker than the one left today.
"The beauty of these measurements lies in the fact that
these are the first really high-precision measurements of the composition of
Mars' atmosphere," said Sushil Atreya, professor of atmospheric, oceanic
and space sciences at the University of Michigan.
Atreya is co-author of two related papers published in the
July 19 issue of Science, and co-investigator on Curiosity's Sample Analysis at
Mars (SAM) suite of instruments, considered the rover's cornerstone lab.