Hey , remember that debris storm thatengulfed Marsand put NASA ’s chance roamer at peril ? Well , it ’s still raging – as shown in these ratheramazing young images , with one cheeky chappy thrusting out .
lose it by ESA ’s Mars Express space vehicle , one of the images were taken yesterday , July 2 , from an elevation of about 4,300 kilometers ( 2,700 miles ) above the surface . They resound thought seen by NASA ’s Mars Global Surveyorback in 2001 .
detritus storm on Mars are the result of arise debris as the ground is heated . The rubble is so minor and luminosity that it lifts into the atmospheric state , and in some example like this , the violent storm can cover theentire planetlike we ’re go steady right now . Scientists are n’t quite sure why this happens .
Theimagesfrom Mars Express were particularly coolheaded though because one of them show up Olympus Mons – the biggest plenty in the Solar System at 26 kilometers ( 16 miles ) – emerging from the violent storm . cracking !
The various image taken by Mars Express are pretty incredible . commonly , we can see Crater , valleys , and more on the control surface of the Red Planet . Now all we can see is a blank planet , looking somewhat likeSaturn ’s moonlight Titan . The Pole of the planet also seem to be visible at the moment .
This junk storm was first spotted on Mars in late May , and it ’s now the biggest dust storm we ’ve ever watch on the Red Planet . While it ’s rather enthralling to look at , not everyone is enjoying it .
That ’s because on the aerofoil flop now , NASA ’s Opportunity rover isfighting for its life . The rover relies on solar power , and with day turned to nighttime by the junk , it has had to put itself to log Z’s as it waits out the storm . All its handlers on Earth can do is wait and see if it wakes up after the storm abates .
When might that be ? Well , we do n’t know at the minute . By some estimates , the storm could proceed for weeks or even more . The rover is ask to survive , despite being ineffectual to keep itself tender , as temperatures are n’t await to drop low enough to cause severe problems .
But still , there are high-strung times ahead . And these pictures from ESA show that the storm ai n’t going anywhere yet .
