THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India's Mangalyaan, which was expected to have a lifespan of six months, has been observing Mars for seven years. Mangalyaan has provided the world with important information about the atmosphere of Mars. Even NASA has also acknowledged that this information is crucial for studies regarding the atmospheres of various planets.

Researchers at ISRO's National Atmospheric Research Laboratory in Andhra Pradesh have released new information to the world based on data from Mangalyaan.

All the planets are losing a certain amount of their atmosphere into space. The speed of this process is determined by the size of the planets and the temperature of the outer atmosphere. Researchers have discovered that Mars, a small planet, is losing its atmosphere at a faster rate when expected compared to Earth. This has been published on the ISRO website.

Mangalyaan's findings

• Mangalyaan collected data at a distance of 155 km from Mars
• In June and July 2018, Mars experienced huge dust storms.
• As a result of the dust storm, the upper atmosphere of Mars became warmer
• This has increased the rate of atmospheric loss to Mars
• It was found that the temperature was rising and the atmosphere was expanding
• The density of Mars' atmosphere increased during a month filled with dust storms.