Published August 27, 1976 | Version v1
Journal article

Composition of the atmosphere at the surface of Mars: detection of argon-36 and preliminary analysis

  • 1. State Univ., of New York, Stony Brook

Description

The composition of the martian atmosphere was determined by the mass spectrometer in the molecular analysis experiment. The presence of argon and nitrogen was confirmed and a value of 1 to 2750 +- 500 for the ratio of argon-36 to argon-40 was established. A preliminary interpretation of these results suggests that Mars had a slightly more massive atmosphere in the past, but that much less total outgassing has occurred on Mars than on Earth

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Science
Journal Volume
193
Journal Issue
4255
Series
Science.
Journal Page Range
801-803
ISSN
0036-8075

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
United States
INIS RN
8311882
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
ARGON; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; DEGASSING; ISOTOPE RATIO; MARS PLANET; MASS SPECTROSCOPY; NITROGEN; PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES; SPACE VEHICLES
Descriptors DEC
ATMOSPHERES; ELEMENTS; NONMETALS; PLANETS; RARE GASES; SPECTROSCOPY

Optional Information

Notes
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