NASA rover knocked out as gigantic dust storm envelops Mars

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ ^ | 6/13/18 | Marcia Dunn

[BBell]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's seemingly unstoppable Mars rover Opportunity has been knocked out by a gigantic dust storm that is enveloping the red planet and blotting out the sun.

Officials said Wednesday they're hopeful the rover will survive the storm, which already covers one-quarter of Mars and is expected to encircle the planet in another few days. It could be weeks or even months, though, until the sky clears enough for sunlight to reach the Martian surface and recharge Opportunity's batteries through its solar panels.

For now, Mars' oldest working rover is stuck in the middle of the raging storm, in round-the-clock darkness.

"By no means are we out of the woods here," said John Callas, the Opportunity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "This storm is threatening, and we don't know how long it will last, and we don't know what the environment will be like once it clears."

Flight controllers tried late Tuesday night to contact Opportunity, but the rover did not respond. The storm has been growing since the end of May with unprecedented speed.

[raybbr]

is this the first dust storm the rover has been through in 5255 days? What happened previously?

[mwilli20]

Interestingly, the dust storms have been found to be beneficial because their net effect it to clean the solar panels of the dust that accumulates between storms. It’s likely this unexpected benefit is the main reason the little rover far exceeded its expected operational lifespan.

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping in case you haven’t seen it*

[trebb]

Wow - planet-wide storm...them Martians are even worse than us when it comes to screwing up the climate....

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks fieldmarshaldj.