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Mars will soon experience a new dust storm season.
STATES CHRONICLE – Just like meteorologists forecast the weather on our planet, some planetary specialists have managed to predict enormous dust storms meant to hit Mars. The next dust storm is soon to arrive. According to James Shirley, a planetary expert at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, commented that Mars would be affected by a dust storm on October 29. This scientist claimed that he and his team, after analyzing historical data, they determined that a global storm will soon hit the Red Planet.
If Mars is affected by these dust storms, NASA’s satellites, Curiosity and Opportunity, will have no solar energy to sustain their power. The Red planet is extremely familiar with dust storms which are categorized as being part of its season. Scientists claim that they are an event happening in a delimited area. Sometimes, these insignificant storms appear to become disastrous events, covering a greater surface.
There are very rare occasions in which the dust storms engulf the whole planet, becoming a global one. Scientists have noticed that these storm systems develop every time Mars gets closer to the sun. That period is categorized as summer on the southern hemisphere of Mars. Having the ability to forecast Mars’ weather, specialists will be now prepared for the weather conditions from outer space when they are on a mission. The weather and all the phenomena happening on Mars are relevant for astronauts setting to explore it.
The air would be full of dust and all the electronics needed by the researchers will receive no solar power, the vital substance for such a journey. This kind of storms can provoke a lot of damage to exploratory missions which could no longer analyze the planet. The last storm which occurred on Mars was back in 2007 when NASA had two space rovers active, situated around Mars.
The project manager of the Spirit and Opportunity spaceships, John Callas claimed that he and his team had needed to pay very close attention and have taken particular measures to make possible the survival of both rovers with a subtle amount of light. The rovers have taken turns to perform surveillance over Mars. They were powered on only several minutes per day.
Do you believe that the dust storms which approach Mars will hit NASA’s surveillance rovers?
Image courtesy of: pixabay
