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Rocket Storms Are Stripping Mars of Its Water

A 2023 "rocket dust storm" in Mars' northern summer lifted water vapor to about 60 km, triggering a hydrogen escape flux of 5 × 10⁸ cm⁻² s⁻¹—roughly 50 times the seasonal baseline. Instruments on the Trace Gas Orbiter and the UAE Hope probe recorded 70 ppm water at that altitude for six sols, confirming the storm’s unprecedented vertical transport. Researchers argue that such localized, high‑altitude storms provide a missing pathway for Mars’ historic water loss, complementing the well‑known southern‑summer global dust storms. The study suggests these events may have been far more common when Mars experienced extreme axial tilts.