NASA: The dust storm of Mars can finally calm down

Mars is a bit of a mess right now.

The Red Planet is in the midst of a global dust storm that forced a Martian rover into hibernation and departed another working in foggy conditions. The storm broke out at the end of May.

Scott Guzewich, a member of the Curiosity rovers team, posted an update of the mission on a NASA blog Friday, noting a slow decline over the last two weeks in the amount of dust view of Gale Crater. He says "it is possible that the dust storm has reached its peak."

"We may be entering (or entering soon) in the period when the mbadive amount of dust in the atmosphere will slowly deposit and the surface of Mars »Guzewich

Although Curiosity is busy with its scientific studies, the rover Opportunity on the other side of the planet is still disconnected from reality. The Opportunity team says she continues to listen to the quiet rover's touch every day. He touched the base for the last time on June 10th.

NASA hopes that the opportunity will wake up from sleep when the sky clears and the solar panels can recharge its batteries. The rover was launched in 2003 for a 90-day mission and exceeded expectations by continuing its scientific observations well beyond a decade later.

At this point, it is to wait for the storm and hope that Optimity can resume after a long break in cold and dark conditions.