These Modern scene of Mars , taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , show that the full planet is now engulf in the detritus storm that begin in tardy May . And while orbiters are analyse the storm to translate it better , it could spell trouble for the rover on its aerofoil .
storm like these go on every six to eight Earth years , according to aNASA release . The most recent one began as a smaller tempest , first observe on May 30 , which forced the chance roamer to enter hibernation mode inearly June . ByJune 20th , the violent storm gird the major planet .
“ It ’s exciting because it ’s the strong dust storm we ’ve EVER see on Mars , ” Tanya Harrison , director of Arizona State University ’s NewSpace Initiative told Gizmodo via Twitter direct content . “ It ’s worrisome for Opportunity because she ’s not getting enough sunlight to keep her batteries bill , but caloric model state us temperature is on our side . ”
chance will remain numb until the junk settles , belike some metre in September , when scientist will try out to wake it up . The chief headache is whether the solar - powered rover can survive the cold without business leader to keep warm , though the thick dust may absorb heat and prevent Opportunity from feel the worst of the frigid temperature . Harrison said that scientists are affirmative .
Meanwhile , other experiment are working to understand the tempest — NASA ’s Mars Odyssey orbiter is dog the planet ’s temperature and atmospherical composition to intimately take it , according to that discharge . NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes colour photograph of the standard atmosphere and measures temperature , while its MAVEN orbiter is analyze how the violent storm impact the top of the Martian atmosphere , above the debris . They want to be intimate how small storms turn into planet - full consequence .
And 5,000 mile away from Opportunity , the Curiosity roamer is in less danger . It is atomic power , so it need not hibernate . It is attempting to value the property of the junk particles while it continues bore into rock , but aswe reported , the dust could peradventure harm its tv camera .
Scientists are excited to contemplate the storm to instruct about our red neighbour . “ The storm chip in us the chance to well understand how these storm rise from regional to satellite - encircling , and what kind of effects they have on the albedo patterns [ how the satellite reflects sunlight ] on the Earth’s surface . ”
[ NASA ]
MarsScienceSpace
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