Initial analysis of ion fluxes in the magnetotail of Mars based on simultaneous measurements on Mars Express and Maven

Abstract

Simultaneous operation of two Mars satellites, equipped with instruments for the study of the plasma environment close to Mars, the European satellite Mars Express and American satellite MAVEN, allows one to investigate the influence of the interplanetary environment on the Martian magnetosphere and atmospheric losses, induced by the solar wind, for the first time, with a sufficient degree of confidence. In this paper, the data from measurements on the Mars Express satellite (MEX) of heavy ion losses are analyzed in comparison with the solar wind and magnetic field measurements on the MAVEN satellite. The main issue is the spatial structure of the escaping ion flux and the influence of the nonstationarity of the solar wind flux on the escape rate.