Planetary Science

MAVEN

942 tracked publications and 22,721 citations from 2015–2026. Mars Atmosphere & Volatile EvolutioN. Launched 2013. Life-cycle cost: $971M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window December 1, 2014 to January 1, 2024: 656 publications, 56 top-10% credit.

Orbiter · h-index 68 · 39 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 2016

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers December 1, 2014 to January 1, 2024
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods656
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods9,168
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods14
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods10
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods12 (1.8%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods56 · 5.1% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods3.0 · 2.8% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods68
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods111
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods5.7
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods27
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods436

Tracked publications

  1. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) Mission

    Jakosky, B. M., 2015, SSRv

    769 citations

  2. The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

    Connerney, J. E. P., 2015, SSRv

    537 citations

  3. The Solar Wind Ion Analyzer for MAVEN

    Halekas, J. S., 2015, SSRv

    437 citations

  4. The MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer

    Mitchell, D. L., 2016, SSRv

    318 citations

  5. MAVEN SupraThermal and Thermal Ion Compostion (STATIC) Instrument

    McFadden, J. P., 2015, SSRv

    313 citations

  6. The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission

    Mahaffy, Paul R., 2015, SSRv

    292 citations

  7. Loss of the Martian atmosphere to space: Present-day loss rates determined from MAVEN observations and integrated loss through time

    Jakosky, B. M., 2018, Icar

    288 citations

  8. Structure, dynamics, and seasonal variability of the Mars-solar wind interaction: MAVEN Solar Wind Ion Analyzer in-flight performance and science results

    Halekas, J. S., 2017, JGRA

    268 citations

  9. The Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) Instrument for MAVEN

    Andersson, L., 2015, SSRv

    236 citations

  10. Mars Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model: Solar cycle, seasonal, and diurnal variations of the Mars upper atmosphere

    Bougher, S. W., 2015, JGRE

    232 citations

  11. The Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Monitor for MAVEN

    Eparvier, F. G., 2015, SSRv

    229 citations

  12. Strong plume fluxes at Mars observed by MAVEN: An important planetary ion escape channel

    Dong, Y., 2015, GeoRL

    210 citations

  13. MAVEN observations of the response of Mars to an interplanetary coronal mass ejection

    Jakosky, B. M., 2015, Sci

    208 citations

  14. Mars’ atmospheric history derived from upper-atmosphere measurements of ³⁸Ar/³⁶Ar

    Jakosky, B. M., 2017, Sci

    199 citations

  15. Structure and composition of the neutral upper atmosphere of Mars from the MAVEN NGIMS investigation

    Mahaffy, P. R., 2015, GeoRL

    189 citations

  16. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) for the MAVEN Mission

    McClintock, William E., 2015, SSRv

    188 citations

  17. First measurements of composition and dynamics of the Martian ionosphere by MAVEN's Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer

    Benna, M., 2015, GeoRL

    161 citations

  18. The MAVEN EUVM model of solar spectral irradiance variability at Mars: Algorithms and results

    Thiemann, Edward M. B., 2017, JGRA

    154 citations

  19. Martian low-altitude magnetic topology deduced from MAVEN/SWEA observations

    Xu, Shaosui, 2017, JGRA

    145 citations

  20. The spatial distribution of planetary ion fluxes near Mars observed by MAVEN

    Brain, D. A., 2015, GeoRL

    142 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming MAVEN in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

((=abs:"Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution" OR =abs:"Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution" OR (abs:MAVEN AND (abs:solar OR abs:heliosphere)) OR ((abs:MAVEN OR abs:SWEA OR abs:SWIA OR abs:STATIC OR abs:IUVS OR abs:NGIMS OR =abs:"Solar Wind Electron Analyzer" OR =abs:"Solar Wind Ion Analyzer" OR =abs:"Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition" OR =abs:"Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer" OR =abs:"Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph" OR =abs:"Langmuir Probe and Waves" OR =abs:"Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer") AND (abs:Mars OR abs:martian)))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2014-12 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Removed after review (8)

  1. A hybrid electrostatic retarding potential analyzer for the measurement of plasmas at extremely high energy resolution Laboratory prototype of a new plasma analyzer; mentions MAVEN's STATIC only as heritage. Decision 🤖
  2. 2019ApJS..242....1S Solar-corona spectral modelling tool; MAVEN is not named. Decision 🤖
  3. On the seasonal evolution of the diurnal pattern of the longitudinal structures in MAVEN NGIMS derived CO₂ densities over Martian upper atmosphere Duplicate record of 2021JASTP.21205508M (same paper). Decision 🤖
  4. The Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) for the EMM Mission Describes the Emirates Mars Mission's ultraviolet spectrometer; MAVEN is not named. Decision 🤖
  5. MAVEN mission perspectives and approaches to inclusion Describes the mission team's inclusion practices; reports no research results. Decision 🤖
  6. EBOP MAVEN. A machine learning model for predicting eclipsing binary light curve fitting parameters "EBOP MAVEN" is an eclipsing-binary software model, not the Mars mission. Decision 🤖
  7. EBOP MAVEN: a machine learning model to estimate the input parameters for analytic fitting of detached eclipsing binary light curves "EBOP MAVEN" is an eclipsing-binary software model, not the Mars mission. Decision 🤖
  8. Preface: The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) Mission Editorial preface to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖