A global dust storm completely obscured the surface of Mars. Images from May 28 and July 1.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
When dust filled the Martian atmosphere during the recent planet-wide dust storm, observations were plentiful – even from unlikely instruments. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provided the earliest insights on May 30 when it observed an accumulation of dust in the atmosphere near Perseverance Valley, where NASA’s Opportunity rover is exploring. The increasingly hazy storm, the biggest since 2007, forced Opportunity to shut down science operations by June 8, given that sunlight couldn’t penetrate the dust to power the rover’s solar panels. Scientists are anxiously waiting for the roving explorer to regain power and phone home.
Meanwhile, on June 5, evidence quiet...
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