Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field and interacts with the solar wind directly. Over billions of years, this interaction has stripped much of the Martian atmosphere, transforming the ...

While Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field protect the planet from these solar events, Mars has no such protection. But the sun's solar particles could be a boon for studies of — and travel to ...

In fact, it even managed to double the size of its fleet in a single day, when NASA landed a second vehicle on Mars at the end of January. The two Mars exploration vehicles, Spirit and Opportunity, ...