[ad_1]
On Mars, there is dust everywhere. The dust storm is so big that it has already covered the red planet in its entirety. In recent days, it has grown exponentially and is now officially a "global event," said Bruce Cantor of Malin Space Science Systems. The company designs optical cameras for spacecraft, such as the Mars Recognition Space Probe (MRO).
March surrounded by dust
The storm immobilized the Opportunity robot. Because of the dust, the sun's rays did not charge the mobile's batteries. The darkening of the atmosphere is measured in "tau". The Opportunity rover measured a level of 10.8, this value is almost double the last storm that occurred on Mars in 2007. The lower the value of "tau"
Rover Curiosity [19659005HoweverexpertsareoptimisticthatOpportunitywillwakeupwhenthestormisoverNoonecanpredictwhenitwillbe:"It'sturnedouttobearemarkablyresilientrover"JimWatzindirectorofNASA'sMarsExplorationProgram
Curiosity, another robot on Mars , was luckier, unlike Opportunity, Curiosity is powered by a plutonium generator. measured a "tau" index of 8.0, the highest value he has measured since the beginning of his Mars mission.
Dust storms: no scarcity
The dust storms on Mars are not atypical, especially when it is a premium Vera and summer in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Ice debris is heated in the South Pole, water evaporates and carbon dioxide rises into the atmosphere.
But this storm is different: it is more diffuse, uneven and nobody knows how it will evolve. If we compare the magnitude of the storm with that of the Earth, it would be larger than that of North America and Russia, said Scott Guzewich, a scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA
. sand and dust, for example in North Africa, the Middle East and the southwestern United States. However, here are the conditions that prevent the spread of these storms, with the structure of our atmosphere and the gravity that helps the dust to install, says Ralph A. Kahn of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
] First Great Break
"This is an ideal storm for scientists studying the planet Mars," says Jim Watzin, director of NASA's NASA exploration program. "We have a historic number of spaceships operating on the Red Planet, each offering a unique look at how dust storms are forming and behaving, and this information will be crucial for future robotic and manned missions."
taken during the huge dust storm on the red planet.
Researchers want to know why these giant dust storms are forming in recent months on Mars, and why others are becoming shorter and shorter. "We still do not know why," says Guzewich
Teamwork
Three Space Probes Collect Information on the Dust Storm The Mars Recognition Orbiter (MRO) plays a special role as a system. Early warning for weather events, as in the case of this storm, his camera, called Mars Color Imager, showed the first signs of the storm.
The other two space probes have very different functions: Mars Odyssey has an infrared camera capable of measuring the amount of dust, and Maven studies the behavior of the atmosphere.
<! – Download the attached document of this news ->
[ad_2]
Source link
