Solar wind flow into the Martian wake

We present the observations of the solar wind flow into the Martian wake using the measurements by Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. It is shown that the magnetospheric boundary at the nightside is not a perfect and the solar wind protons penetrate into the tail region filled by the ionospheric plasma streaming in the antisunward direction. A more strong penetration in the E⁺ hemisphere results to a shift of the magnetospheric cavity to the E^- hemisphere. Close to Mars, at altitudes less ~2000 km the sunward flows of the solar wind protons dominate. The sunward flows are also observed at larger distances in the ion trail filled by the low-energy ionospheric plasma. The results are compared with the hybrid simulations of the solar wind interaction with Mars. Mechanisms of a such behavior are discussed.