Mars Dust
Written by Fraser Cain
When NASA engineers were designing the Mars Exploration Rovers, one of their biggest enemies was dust. The Mars dust was expected to settle down on the rovers' solar panels, and slowly block out the energy from the Sun. Eventually, it was thought that they wouldn't have enough power to keep their electronics heated through the cold Martian winter, and they'd finally die.
Amazingly, wind and dust devils on Mars have been working to extend the lifespan of the rovers, periodically clearing off the solar panels and restoring ability to generate power.
But dust on Mars is still trouble.
Solar heating warms the ground on Mars, causing the air to move. This wind picks up the lightweight dust particles and collects them into huge storms. The storms pick up as Mars makes its closest approach to the Sun (astronomers call this perihelion), with 20% more sunlight falling on the planet than average.
Every 3 Martian years or so, the dust storms on Mars will really get going, merging together until there's a single, global dust storm raging across the entire surface of Mars.
When humans finally step foot on the surface of Mars, the dust is going to be a huge concern. Although they've never had a chance to examine it up close, researchers think that Mars dust if 50 times smaller than the stuff we have on Earth. If you just touch it, the dust will become statically charged, and stick to everything. Unless the astronauts take many precautions, it'll get into any habitats, and even into the air – it might even be able to cause sinus infections.
Fortunately, dust on Mars is likely to be weathered and fairly smooth. Very different from the jagged, glass like particles found on the Moon. Those may cause some serious heath problems for astronauts.
When the first sample missions return from Mars, they'll be carrying samples of the dust, as well as rocks and other material. This will help scientists know what they're dealing with when the humans finally set off. Let's hope the Mars dust isn't that big of a problem.
Here are the closest image ever taken of Martian dust grains. And information about Spirit's problem dealing with dust on Mars.
A Mars dust storm might actually produce peroxide snow.
Finally, if you'd like to learn more about Mars in general, we have done several podcast episodes about the Red Planet at Astronomy Cast. Episode 52: Mars, and Episode 91: The Search for Water on Mars.
Filed under: Astronomy
