Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 tempest of tiny dust particles has engulfed much of Mars over the concluding ii weeks together with prompted NASA's Opportunity rover to suspend scientific discipline operations. But across the planet, NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been studying Martian soil at Gale Crater, is expected to remain largely unaffected yesteryear the dust. While Opportunity is powered yesteryear sunlight, which is blotted out yesteryear dust at its electrical current location, Curiosity has a nuclear-powered battery that runs 24-hour interval together with night.
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| In June 2018 NASA's Curiosity Rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to snap photos of the intensifying haziness the surface of Mars, caused yesteryear a massive dust storm. The rover is standing within Gale Crater looking out to the crater rim. The photos bridge nearly a duet of weeks, starting alongside a shot of the expanse before the tempest appeared [Credit: NASA] |
Though Curiosity is on the other side of Mars from Opportunity, dust has steadily increased over it, to a greater extent than than doubling over the weekend. The atmospheric haze blocking sunlight, called "tau," is instantly inward a higher identify 8.0 at Gale Crater -- the highest tau the mission has always recorded. Tau was concluding measured close eleven over Opportunity, thick plenty that accurate measurements are no longer possible for Mars' oldest active rover.
For NASA's human scientists watching from the ground, Curiosity offers an unprecedented window to response only about questions. One of the biggest: Why create only about Martian dust storms concluding for months together with grow massive, piece others rest pocket-size together with concluding alone a week?
"We don't receive got whatever practiced idea," said Scott D. Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center inward Greenbelt, Maryland, leading Curiosity's dust tempest investigation.
Curiosity, he points out, addition a fleet of spacecraft inward the reach of Mars, volition permit scientists for the start fourth dimension to collect a wealth of dust information both from the surface together with from space. The concluding tempest of global magnitude that enveloped Mars was inward 2007, 5 years earlier Curiosity landed there.
In the animation, Curiosity is facing the crater rim, nearly 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) away from where it stands within the crater. Daily photos captured yesteryear its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, demo the heaven getting hazier. This sun-obstructing wall of haze is nearly half dozen to viii times thicker than normal for this fourth dimension of season.
Curiosity's engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory inward Pasadena, California, receive got studied the potential for the growing dust tempest to touching on the rover's instruments, together with tell it poses picayune risk. The largest impact is to the rover's cameras, which demand extra exposure fourth dimension due to the depression lighting. The rover already routinely points its Mastcam downwardly at the Blue Planet afterwards each live to cut back the amount of dust blowing at its optics. JPL leads the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity mission.
Martian dust storms are common, particularly during southern hemisphere saltation together with summer, when the planet is closest to the Sun. As the atmosphere warms, winds generated yesteryear larger contrasts inward surface temperature at dissimilar locations mobilize dust particles the size of private talcum pulverization grains. Carbon dioxide frozen on the wintertime polar cap evaporates, thickening the atmosphere together with increasing the surface pressure. This enhances the procedure yesteryear helping suspend the dust particles inward the air. In only about cases, the dust clouds accomplish upwardly to forty miles (60 kilometers) or to a greater extent than inward elevation.
Though they are common, Martian dust storms typically rest contained to a local area. By contrast, the electrical current storm, if it were happening on Earth, is bigger than North America together with Russian Federation combined, said Guzewich.
The dust tempest may seem exotic to only about Earthlings, but it's non unique to Mars. public has dust storms, too, inward desert regions such every bit North Africa, the Middle East together with the southwest United States.
But weather hither forestall them from spreading globally, said Ralph A. Kahn, a Goddard senior enquiry scientist who studies the atmospheres of public together with Mars. These include the construction of our thicker atmosphere together with stronger gravity that helps settle dust. public also has vegetation comprehend on province that binds the soil alongside its roots together with helps block the air current together with pelting that launder the particles out of the atmosphere.
Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center [June 20, 2018]
Sumber http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com
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| Two images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity rover depicting atmospheric changes since a dust storm descended on Gale Crater. The left icon shows the "Duluth" drill site on Sol 2058 (May 21); the correct image is from Sol 2084 (June 17). Both images receive got been white balanced together with contrast-enhanced [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS] |
In the animation, Curiosity is facing the crater rim, nearly 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) away from where it stands within the crater. Daily photos captured yesteryear its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, demo the heaven getting hazier. This sun-obstructing wall of haze is nearly half dozen to viii times thicker than normal for this fourth dimension of season.
Curiosity's engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory inward Pasadena, California, receive got studied the potential for the growing dust tempest to touching on the rover's instruments, together with tell it poses picayune risk. The largest impact is to the rover's cameras, which demand extra exposure fourth dimension due to the depression lighting. The rover already routinely points its Mastcam downwardly at the Blue Planet afterwards each live to cut back the amount of dust blowing at its optics. JPL leads the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity mission.
Martian dust storms are common, particularly during southern hemisphere saltation together with summer, when the planet is closest to the Sun. As the atmosphere warms, winds generated yesteryear larger contrasts inward surface temperature at dissimilar locations mobilize dust particles the size of private talcum pulverization grains. Carbon dioxide frozen on the wintertime polar cap evaporates, thickening the atmosphere together with increasing the surface pressure. This enhances the procedure yesteryear helping suspend the dust particles inward the air. In only about cases, the dust clouds accomplish upwardly to forty miles (60 kilometers) or to a greater extent than inward elevation.
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| A self-portrait taken yesteryear NASA's Curiosity rover taken on Sol 2082 (June 15, 2018). Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Martian dust tempest has reduced sunlight together with visibility at the rover's place inward Gale Crater [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech] |
The dust tempest may seem exotic to only about Earthlings, but it's non unique to Mars. public has dust storms, too, inward desert regions such every bit North Africa, the Middle East together with the southwest United States.
But weather hither forestall them from spreading globally, said Ralph A. Kahn, a Goddard senior enquiry scientist who studies the atmospheres of public together with Mars. These include the construction of our thicker atmosphere together with stronger gravity that helps settle dust. public also has vegetation comprehend on province that binds the soil alongside its roots together with helps block the air current together with pelting that launder the particles out of the atmosphere.
Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center [June 20, 2018]
Sumber http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com
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