ON THE PROBLEM OF THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE DISSIPATION - PHOBOS-2 TAUS SPECTROMETER RESULTS

The measurements of proton spectra obtained by the TAUS spectrometer on board the Phobos 2 spacecraft in elliptical orbits near Mars are presented. A strong deceleration of the solar wind upstream of the Martian bow shock was revealed. It can be caused by the mass loading of the plasma flow by ions originating from the hot oxygen/hydrogen corona of Mars and/or by protons specularly reflected from the bow shock. In the first case the deceleration of the solar wind by about 100 km/s implies that the hot oxygen corona of Mars could be several times denser than it was anticipated to be (at least during the observation period that was close to solar cycle maximum). Furthermore, the loss of planetary oxygen through the corona appears to be the main process of oxygen loss from Mars. The upper limit of loss rate for such a process is determined to be 10(26) oxygen atoms or 2.5 kg of oxygen per second.