[X] My Assistant

[Nirgal]

I've been fascinated by the large martian whirlwinds (the term "dust devil" does not quite justice to this penomenon since they easily surpas the largest torandoes in size) ever since their existence was proved by the orbiter camers (Viking, MOC).

For me this phenomenon is, like nothing else, proof and visible sign of the
dynamic nature of this planet that distinguish it from the other, death worlds we visited (like the moon ...)

So when I first saw the orbiter images of the devil streaked terrain with
the giant orbit-visible funnels casting their shadow over the red plaines, I have always wondered how they would look like from the surface.

But never,ever in my wildest dreams have I imagined that the MER rovers would actually capture such clear & vivid high resolution shots of live dust devils directly from the surface !

So this hand colorized navcam image is my personal ode to the Whirlwinds of Mars and to the JPL/MER team that literally made dreams come true

[Bill Harris]

martians does exhist! they appear, move around and then dead... they are called dust devils!

Have you ever read _The Martian Chronicles_, a science-fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury?

--Bill