A handful of firsts

The observations made by the satellites orbiting Mars of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring are likely to be very useful to science.  But what got me when I read this article about the observations was how many first-time-evers were involved.

Mars Spacecraft Reveal Comet Flyby Effects on Martian Atmosphere


Feel free to read the article about the discoveries.  But here are the extracted firsts:

1. "Two NASA and one European spacecraft that obtained the first up-close observations of a comet flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, have gathered new information about the basic properties of the comet's nucleus and directly detected the effects on the Martian atmosphere."

2. "In these observations, scientists were able to make a direct connection from the input of debris from a specific meteor shower to the formation of this kind of transient layer in response; that is a first on any planet, including Earth."

3.  "The remote-sensing Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph observed intense ultraviolet emission from magnesium and iron ions high in the atmosphere in the aftermath of the meteor shower. Not even the most intense meteor storms on Earth have produced as strong a response as this one."

4. "These are the first direct measurements of the composition of dust from an Oort Cloud

That's an impressive list.