Tag Archives: dust storms

Opportunity hunkers down during dust storm

Posted on June 8, 2018 by rburnham

Science operations for NASA’s Opportunity rover have been temporarily suspended as it waits out a growing dust storm on Mars. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter first detected the storm on Friday, June 1. As soon as the orbiter team saw how … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: A change of season

Posted on April 20, 2018 by rburnham

Sols 2027-28, April 20, 2018, update by MSL scientist Scott Guzewich: This was a week of transition for Curiosity’s environmental science team. The cloudy season on Mars has ended as we’ve seen a marked decrease in water ice cloud activity … Continue reading →

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Hydrogen escape from atmosphere linked to global dust storms

Posted on January 23, 2018 by rburnham

Some Mars experts are eager and optimistic for a dust storm this year to grow so grand it darkens skies around the entire Red Planet. This biggest type of phenomenon in the environment of modern Mars could be examined as … Continue reading →

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Does Mars’ bow shock location correlate with atmospheric dust?

Posted on August 23, 2017 by rburnham

A Lancaster University [UK] physicist has led an international study, based on data from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, which throws new light on the interaction between the planet Mars and supersonic particles in the solar wind. As the energetic particles … Continue reading →

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Opportunity field report, March 6, 2017

Posted on March 6, 2017 by rburnham

Sol 4662, March 6, 2017; Rover Field Report by Larry Crumpler, MER Science Team & New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science: Out of the crater and cruising south! For nearly two years Opportunity’s world has been tilted 10-25 … Continue reading →

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Big global dust storm starting soon?

Posted on October 6, 2016 by rburnham

Global dust storms on Mars could soon become more predictable — which would be a boon for future astronauts there — if the next one follows a pattern suggested by those in the past. A published prediction, based on this … Continue reading →

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ExoMars: Dusty arrival for Schiaparelli lander?

Posted on May 24, 2016 by rburnham

In October 2016, the Schiaparelli capsule, also known as the Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM), is scheduled to make the first landing on Mars by an ESA spacecraft. Will it be greeted by a raging dust storm? What … Continue reading →

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Fact & fiction of Martian dust storms

Posted on September 21, 2015 by rburnham

For years, science fiction writers from Edgar Rice Burroughs to C. S. Lewis have imagined what it would be like for humans to walk on Mars. As mankind comes closer to taking its first steps on the Red Planet, authors’ … Continue reading →

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Dust storms in Hellas Planitia

Posted on June 3, 2015 by rburnham

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, June 2015: Martin Voelker and Daniela Tirsch (Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Center, Berlin). In July 2012 the Context Camera (CTX) on board Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) observed an upcoming and well-defined dust … Continue reading →

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