The Storm, Dust storm of 2007 Options

[OWW]

Oh no...This is getting bad:

The new and potentially bleak outlook is a stark shift from the prognosis earlier this week.

The dusty squall has reduced direct sunlight to Mars' surface by nearly 99 percent, an unprecedented threat for the solar-powered robotic explorers. If the storm keeps up and thickens with even more dust, officials fear the rovers' batteries may empty and silence the robotic explorers forever.

Opportunity's energy-gathering ability has been slashed to a dangerous 280 watt-hours-enough power to light only three 90-watt light bulbs.

"The worst-case scenario is that enough dust in the sky decreases solar energy to the point that we have to shut down too many things to save power," Lemmon said. "The rovers keep their battery alive by keeping their electronics alive."

"The reality of the situation is that we're limited as to what we can do from the ground by cutting power use," Callas said. "If it continues to worsen and stay that way, it's a survivability issue for Opportunity. If Mars wants to kill the rovers, it can."

http://www.space.com/news/070705_dusty_rovers.html

[CosmicRocker]

I just noticed this Aviation Week Article dated July 8th (Rover Ready for Dangerous Descent After Dust Storm) It seems to have a little new information about the dust storm and operations planned for inside the crater.

"For several sols [Martian days] we saw the opacity ["tau levels"] increasing at a rate of about 0.3/sol on Opportunity. It peaked at about 3.3, which is by far the highest value we have seen to date for either rover," says Squyres. But late last week, it was back down to 2.66--which is a large and sudden drop, indicating dust levels are highly variable.