The only way to get rid of the dust is to let it slowly settle out. A typical rate, Lemmon said, is something like one percent a day. "So even if all the storms on Mars shut down today, you're talking about two or three months before you're back to normal levels."

If Mars wasn't enough of a challenge, the rovers are now facing a death threat down here on Earth, as a bill wending its way through the Senate threatens to shut down the rovers and pull the funding plug. It's part of the continued budget cuts from the science programs at NASA to fund the return to the Moon announced by Pres. Bush in January 2004 as part of his new Vision for Space Exploration.

"It's cooler by 10 to 20 degrees Celsius [50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit]

In reflecting on the last several weeks, Squyres typically put things in perspective. "No one's ever known what it's like to be in one of these storms," he said. "We're lucky we've lasted long enough to experience this. We may come out the other side and we may not. If we do come through the other side -- okay, it's going to be one more phenomenal accomplishment for the mission. If we don't, well, this is one of the two acceptable ways for the rovers to go."