Storms on Mars have created all sorts of troubles for the twin rovers on the planet. These dust storms have obscured sunlight and have kept the twin rovers hungry for some power.
NASA wanted to move Opportunity into the giant Victoria Crater, a maneuver that was thought to be risky as the rover might not have made it back from the crater and would have died in the crated itself. However, the storm there was so wild that it prevented the space agency from moving the rover into the giant crater.
In just two weeks, the dust storms have covered more than 10 million square miles of the Martian Southern Hemisphere. The storm was initially troubling Opportunity more than Spirit, but things are fast reversing and now Spirit is in danger.
Storms are not the only climatic change on Mars, it also has seasons much like those on Earth because it also has an Earth-like tilt. The planet hosts clouds of ice and carbon dioxide, tornado-like dust devils, auroras and even complex jet streams. All this happens on the planet despite an atmosphere that is just 1 percent as dense as on Earth.
Mars has the same progression of season as on Earth that is summer, fall, winter and then spring. Its summers are hotter just like the tropical regions on Earth where the temperature soars to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. But its summer nights are bone-chilling since the temperature is about minus 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The reason for this drastic change in temperature is that the atmosphere on Mars is not as thick as on Earth and once night falls on the planet all the heat from the surface of Mars escapes back into space making the planet colder.
This extreme change in the temperature is a threat for all missions as it can easily weaken or even damage the solder joints in the rovers. According to researchers southern summers are the most likely period for the dust devils to strike because during this time the temperature change is the most extreme. Sun warms the cold ground in the morning and hot air rises and pulls in surrounding air and microscopic particles along with it. This is the reason for the dust storms which whips the ultra-fine dust at around 70 mph. The reason for this is that the planet does not have rains like Earth, which can settle the dust back on the ground.
Clouds also form on the red planet; however, they are not made of water vapor like on Earth but are icy clouds of carbon dioxide. These clouds are persistent above the poles where they are fed by carbon dioxide evaporating from the surface of ice caps made of the frozen gas. These clouds move around due to the changes in pressure just like Earth.
Other than being sunny and windy there are some other climatic changes on the planet which are quite similar to the changes we see on other. The only thing is that there is no water on the planet which can make things as beautiful as that on Earth. Studies have now shown that Mars once harbored oceans. So it might be possible that the planet was once as fit for life as Earth is today. We need be more lenient towards Earth because till now it is not possible for us to leave Earth and occupy some other planet, because the conditions here are the best for life and these conditions cannot be easily replicated elsewhere.
Via: MSNBC
