Dust Storm Over Northern Mars
Explanation:
Almost
on cue, as Mars nears it's closest approach to planet
Earth in recorded history, ominous
seasonal dust storms are beginning to kick up.
Observers worry that the activity may
presage the development of a
planet wide dust storm, frustrating
attempts to view Mars in the coming months,
a situation similar to the Red Planet's
uncooperative behavior in 2001.
In this example,
recorded in mid-May by the Mars Global Surveyor
spacecraft camera, a dust storm the size of a continent sweeps
north and east (toward the upper right) across Mars' northern
Acidalia Planitia.
Meanwhile,
interplanetary robotic explorers
Mars Express/
Beagle 2,
Nozomi, and the twin
Mars Exploration
Rovers Opportunity and
Spirit, are all bound for Mars and should arrive by
early January 2004.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
