Fall-Out from Martian Dust Storm Hinders Rovers
“There was one sol [Martian day] when there was real uncertainty we’d hear from Opportunity,” said Lemmon, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University. He added that the plucky robotic explorer almost entered a power-saving mode that would have been dangerous “uncharted territory” for the rover team.
The good news has been that the Martian dust storm has dwindled down to nothing over the past couple of weeks, after a month or so of engulfing dust over the red planet. Of the two rovers, the Opportunity rover had been on its last legs in the early month of August, right before the launching of the Phoenix spacecraft on its way to Mars. But right now the dust still seems to be hindering the daily actions of the rovers, as thin layers of the Martian red power have accumulated on both rover’s solar panels, blocking any sunlight which is still comparable to the worst periods of the Martian storm.
The danger on Mars lies in the super-fine dust and the radiation showers. The rovers have been the only Earth source for the dust, as none of the fine dust has been to Earth for research. Its behavior and health effects are unknown, until it occurs yet it is known that to inhale tiny dust particles will cause health consequences. Unique due to the fact Martian dust is 50 times finer than on Earth because it exists in thin and dry atmospheres. The only reason this is known is because of the fine Martian dust sticking to the wheels of the rover.
Known as the theoretical phenomenon or triboelectric effect, Geoffrey Landis, a NASA Glenn Research Center physicist, says if a person walks through this fine Martian dust or touches it, it automatically gathers and sticks to a person. Referred to as a walking electric field, Landis says that it is similar to the winter situation when a person walks across their carpet, forming when the air is dry and static charges build up.
The dust, which has so overpowered the two NASA rovers could have wielded toxic chemicals, according to two of the latest NASA-sponsored studies. Poisoning forms of life that may have been on Mars, these dust devils and dust storms engulfing the red planet quite possibly lead to hydrogen peroxide and other corrosive chemical formation. Sort of a toxic snow, when it is combined with static electricity the Martian dust storms have the ability to rip apart water and carbon dioxide molecules in thin atmosphere.
Another NASA study that was led by Michigan researcher Sushil Atreya, discovered that the high levels of hydrogen peroxide developing from the Martian dust storms are actually high enough to condense into snow, blanketing the Martian surface. Both this study and the previous one appeared in “Astrobiology’s” recent issue, and were conducted for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Mars Fundamental Research Program.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 6:31 am and is filed under Mission History, Mission Objectives, Technical Concerns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
