The red planet has once again shown its fierce side. The planet is now being covered with a dust storm that is thousands of miles in diameter.
This storm could hamper the operations of Spirit and Opportunity that are NASA’s envoys on the red planet. Such storms block the light of the sun and leave the two rovers craving for power. For now NASA has not taken any serious step but is keeping a close watch on the landscape.
Engineers at NASA don’t think that the storm could cause any damage to Spirit or Opportunity since the conditions there are quite windy and have blown the dust off the rover’s solar arrays. However, it’s Mars and not Earth so the climate there cannot be predicted. If the conditions get worse then NASA might have to think out of the box and the best alternative is to hide Opportunity in the massive Victoria Crater.
This storm cannot be classified as the biggest storm the planet has witnessed since history tells us that the planet is prone to dust storms so wide that they cover half the planet. This storm for now is a regional storm but conditions can get worse and NASA has to remain cautious about it.
According to the latest reports by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is the sole weather monitoring satellite on Mars, the storm has grown in size and is lifting up dust about 560 miles east of Opportunity, which currently is at Meridiani Planum.
NASA has also witnessed one of the biggest storms that ever occurred in the history of Mars. This one occurred in 2001 and engulfed the entire planet in red dust. For now engineers at NASA are waiting for some more information about the storm and its current progress. If the storm appears to get worse then the operations of Spirit and Opportunity could suffer. To tackle this, the space agency might have to move Opportunity into the Victoria Crater to prevent it from any possible damage. A decision on the same will be taken at a press conference planned for Thursday.
The main problem with dust storms is that they completely block the sun’s light from reaching the planet, since the rovers are powered by the energy from the Sun, they might be left craving for power once this happens.
