The Storm, Dust storm of 2007 Options

[jaredGalen]

Out of curiosity, to reach Tau levels as we saw here (e.g. 4.0) would it typically take a storm to throw it up?

As such, would there be globally increased wind levels? Or can the storm be localised and kick the dust up into the higher atmosphere, leaving regions further from the storm with normal winds (virtually none) but high Tau? I don't know how low atmospheric pressure affects all that.

While high Tau is bad for solar junkies like Oppy and Spirit, will these events have helped glean a better understanding of mass air movement on Mars? What will they be trying to learn from the past few weeks?

Sorry for all the questions, guess I'm just thinking out loud....

[Tom Tamlyn]

During Monday's Phoenix Mission press conference, Doug McCuistion, NASA's Mars Exploration Program manager, gave a brief but upbeat report on Opportunity's ability to survive the storm. I thought I also heard him say that Opportunity could function at a power level of about 100 watts. (It appeared later on that at least one reporter interpreted the 100 watts comment as referring to Phoenix, but I recall it as relating to the rovers).

That's a lot lower than the approximately 270-80 watt figure that's been discussed here as the rover's survival threshold. I assume that a good deal of the difference is represented by the fact that less power (no power?) is needed for keeping the electronics warm during the summer season.

Aside from heating, does anyone know what functions require power (and how much) for minimum survival? Does the rover draw no power at all during Deep Sleep?

TTT

Edit to fix typo.

[centsworth_II]

I thought I also heard him say that Opportunity could function at a power level of about 100 watts.

He did say that. But it's more like "stay alive" than "function".
I think the only thing Opportunity would be doing at that power
level would be recharging. I don't know about heating. Has
deep sleep been used during the day? I envision it as a
deep sleep/recharge situation.

[Pando]

To cut down power consumption, they would also need to reduce communication windows.

[Tom Tamlyn]

Emily has posted a comprehensive discussion on her blog, with a full transcript of McCuistion's comments.

Most intriguing was this, which I had forgotten: "We have the ability to charge the batteries below 100 Watts. We can do imaging even below 100 Watts. So we can select the instruments we want; we don't communicate with the orbiters as frequently."

Emily has also promised to try to obtain more information.

TTT

[jaywee]

Emily has also promised to try to obtain more information.

Emily, could you also ask (or anyone else) how the storm affects the surface day/night temperatures ?

jv

[MarsIsImportant]

I've been looking for images of the magnets on the rover. I found a few; but I wish I could find a whole lot more.

These are the most recent images downloaded in order.

June 27th, 2007

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...R9P2976M2M1.JPG

July 1st, 2007

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...R9P2976M2M1.JPG

July 3rd, 2007

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...R9P2936M2M1.JPG

July 9th, 2007

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...R9P2936M2M1.JPG

As you can see, the wind is blowing some of the magnetic particles off of the magnets. I think that is an indicator of just how strong some of these winds must be.

[OWW]

The first two are both from Sol 1217 and the last two are the same picture, from sol 1223.
So there is no evidence for more than one gust.

[djellison]

Yup - raw images 101. The date something appears at the Exploratorium has little relation to when it was actually taken. The file name shows you when it was taken

1M236222506EFF85R9P2976M2M1

That's the time tag in red.



Doug

[Tom Tamlyn]

jaywee,

Helvick, the forum expert on Martian solar power, briefly discussed the effect of dust on surface temperature earlier in this thread (post #20, responding to post # 15).

Of course it would also be great to hear what the Mars weather scientists are learning and expect to learn about this storm from the instruments in orbit.

TTT

[MarsIsImportant]

The first two are both from Sol 1217 and the last two are the same picture, from sol 1223.
So there is no evidence for more than one gust.

I wasn't suggesting evidence for any more that one major gust. Actually we don't know whether it was just one gust...just one time interval when the change occurred. My point was that it was strong enough to clean the magnets significantly.

BTW the red tag continues to confuse me. They just look like a lot of number to me.

[djellison]

http://midnightmarsbrowser.blogspot.com/

Get it.

Be confused no more.



Doug

[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.

[elakdawalla]

Hi guys, I went to the Mars meeting at Caltech today and planned to get some answers but had to leave because I wasn't feeling well. I did catch Ray Arvidson before I left and asked him about the 100-Watt number and he said that was an error. A woman with him said she thought the number was more like 280 or 290.

--Emily

[Ant103]

Hi all

A few times without posting because I've broken my wifi pcmcia card (thanks to gravity who have made fallen my laptop ). The problem is now solve.

I learned that a dust storm hit our rovers.... And Olivier made us a little visit

So, a picture I've made showing the inversion phenomena through the sky during a dust storm :


And here, a color panorama of Victoria crater during the storm :


In expecting that the storm will not during a lot of time

It's a pleasure to read you at new