Magnetic field of Mars: Summary of results from the aerobraking and mapping orbits

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Magnetic Field Investigation was designed to provide fast vector measurements of the ambient magnetic field in the near‐Mars environment and over a wide dynamic range. The fundamental objectives of this investigation were to (1) establish the nature of the magnetic field of Mars; (2) develop appropriate models for its representation; and (3) map the Martian crustal remanent field (if one existed) to a resolution consistent with the spacecraft orbit altitude and ground track separation. Important and complementary objectives were the study of the interaction of Mars with the solar wind and of its ionosphere. The instrumentation is a synergistic combination of a twin‐triaxial, fluxgate magnetometer system and an electron reflectometer. The twin‐magnetometer system allows the real‐time detection of spacecraft‐generated fields, while the electron reflectometer adds remote magnetic field sensing capabilities as well as information about the local electron population. After Mars orbit injection in September 1997 and through the aerobraking (AB) and science‐phasing orbits (SPO) that followed, observations were acquired from more than 1000 elliptical orbits with periapses ranging from 85 to 170 km above Mars' surface. Following injection into the final ∼400 km altitude circular‐mapping orbit, data have been acquired from more than 6000 orbits in the fixed 0200–1400 local time plane. Major results obtained so far by the Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer (MAG/ER) investigation in the course of the mission include (1) the determination that Mars does not currently possess a magnetic field of internal origin (dynamo), (2) the discovery of linear, strongly magnetized regions in its crust, closely associated with the ancient, cratered terrain of the highlands in the southern hemisphere, and (3) multiple magnetic “cusps” that connect the crustal magnetic sources to the Martian tail and shocked solar wind plasma. The solar wind interaction with Mars is therefore similar in many ways to that at Venus and at an active comet, primarily an ionospheric/atmospheric interaction. A comet‐like “magnetic pileup” region and boundary develop that stand off the solar wind, and mass loading by pickup ions of planetary origin plays an important role in defining interaction regions and overall geometry. This paper focuses primarily on the results obtained by the magnetometer (MAG) portion of the investigation during the MGS aerobraking, science‐phasing, a