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Scientists have been wondering how Mars has transformed into a cold, arid desert that we see today from an earth like atmosphere. However, NASA seems to have the answers to these questions that is published in its new research. The report comes from its Mars-orbiting MAVEN that has played a huge role in demystifying this scientific secret. According to the researchers, Mars' atmosphere has leaked into the outer space at the rate of half a pound per second. The scientists say that even though the number seem impressive, it is still not enough to erode a thick layer of atmosphere, even in 4.5-billion-years around the solat system. As per the new research that was published in the week's Science issue, MAVEN's data show that the Mars witnesses much higher erosion rate during solar storms. The "interplanetary coronal mass ejection," also known as aurora, leads to significant increase in the oxygen and carbon dioxide ions discharged into space, reports The Christian Science Monitor

Jasper Halekas, professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa and also a MAVEN tea member told The New York Times, that the solar storm that was studied in March is "is the equivalent of a tsunami at Mars." Unlike Earth, Mars' atmosphere is unprotected and susceptible to the sporadic solar storms from the sun due to lack of global magnetic fields like we have on earth. This causes the sun's gases and solar ultraviolet radiation into high-energy blasts. According to Professor Halekas, the energy hitting the atmosphere of Mars is so intense and the storms are so powerful that they can be compared to at least a Million tons of TNT every hour or "one large nuclear weapon per hour, if you like." Dr. Nick Schneider, Planetary Scientist at University of Colorado and MAVEN team member also said, "What we in hindsight were pretty foolish about was, what Earth's magnetic field really does is prevent auroras from happening everywhere on Earth, we sort of did this dope slap, saying, 'Well, of course, what's going to prevent these particles from the sun from slamming into Mars' atmosphere anywhere and maybe everywhere?", reports the New York Times.