NASA's Opportunity rover is currently hunkered down, waiting out a severe dust storm on Mars. On Sunday, the rover sent a transmission back to Earth, letting NASA engineers know the rover still has enough battery life for basic communication.

Opportunity is currently inside Mars' Perseverance Valley. The valley and surrounding region have been shrouded by an intensifying dust storm over the last several days.

Opportunity uses solar panels to keep its batteries charged. Dust storms can block out the sun for days, making it near impossible for the rover to recharge.

"Science operations for Opportunity are temporarily suspended while it waits out a Martian dust storm," the Mars rovers' account announced on Twitter. "The dust in the atmosphere is impacting the amount of power generated by the rover's solar panels."

Scientists gauge the strength of a dust storm using the unit tau, a measurement of the atmosphere's opacity. In 2007, Opportunity weathered a large dust storm with a tau of 5.5. As of Sunday morning, the current dust storm boasted a tau of 10.8.

Opportunity's original mission was expected to last just 90 days, but the rover is still operational nearly 15 years later. It's a hardy machine, but the latest conditions are challenging its grit.

Engineers are closely monitoring its battery levels and temperature. Nighttime on Mars is extremely cold, but using Opportunity's heaters can drain the batteries. It's a balancing act.

"Its heaters are vitally important to keeping it alive, but also draw more power from the battery," NASA wrote in a recent update. "Likewise, performing certain actions draws on battery power, but can actually expel energy and raise the rover's temperature."

Dust storms on Mars are a well known phenomenon but are infrequent. However, they can develop seemingly overnight and last weeks, even months. During the southern hemisphere's summer, Martian dust rises higher into the atmosphere as its heated. The updrafts of dust can trigger more winds, triggering a feedback loop that fuels the birth of a dust storm.

The current dust storm, which first emerged on June 1, now spans 7 million square miles -- bigger than North America.

NASA scientists will continue to monitor Opportunity's status using the agency's Martian orbiters, MRO, Odyssey and MAVEN, as well as NASA's Deep Space Network.

Related Links
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Martian Winds Carve Mountains, Move Dust, Raise Dust
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 28, 2017
On Mars, wind rules. Wind has been shaping the Red Planet's landscapes for billions of years and continues to do so today. Studies using both a NASA orbiter and a rover reveal its effects on scales grand to tiny on the strangely structured landscapes within Gale Crater. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, on the lower slope of Mount Sharp - a layered mountain inside the crater - has begun a second campaign of investigating active sand dunes on the mountain's northwestern flank. The rover also has been ob ... read more