Today’s weather report on Mars: Windy with a chance of catastrophic dust storms blotting out the sky.
Today’s weather report on Mars: Windy with a chance of catastrophic dust storms blotting out the sky.
In a new study, planetary scientists at CU Boulder have begun to unravel the factors that kick off major dust storms on Mars—weather events that sometimes engulf the entire planet in swirling grit. The team discovered that relatively warm and sunny days may help to trigger them.
Heshani Pieris, lead author of the study, said the findings are a first step toward forecasting extreme weather on Mars, just like scientists do on Earth.
“Dust storms have a significant effect on rovers and landers on Mars, not to mention what will happen during future crewed missions to Mars,” said Pieris, a graduate student at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. “This dust is very light and sticks to everything.”
Read more at University of Colorado at Boulder
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