Inclement conditions word of advice are a begrudgingly accepted fact of living , specially when unexpected . Many people can relate to attempting some variety of travel and hearing with a heavy heart the " inclement weather " admonition . Now , in a world- and off - Holy Writ - first , NASA has had to emerge a flightdelay observation due to sorry weather on another planet .
NASA has to keep a close eye on the weather , not just for found missions , but to protect its rovers and Lander currently exploring Mars . Ingenuityhas repeatedly demonstrate it ’s the little helicopter that could , goingwell beyond its 30 - day foreign mission , so NASA will sure enough not risk losingthis valuable asset . The federal agency harbinger that ingeniousness ’s 19th flight , due to take place January 5 , was put off due to a regional junk tempest on Mars , and will now take place at a posterior date .
Dust storms are a common seasonal natural event on Mars during the autumn and winter months , but this one was surprising as the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing the end of summertime . So a act earlier than common .
Observations from blank space by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter express a regional dust storm spread from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern stretch forth to Jezero crater , where the rover Perseverence and Ingenuity are conducting their scientific geographic expedition . Due to incertitude surrounding this potential weather alteration , the squad make up one’s mind to table the escape .
And it was a good call . Further orbital observations and data collected from the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer ( MEDA ) on Perseverance have prove that the dust violent storm led to a drop in air density in the sphere . This would have been below the safety threshold for the flight . It also led to an 18 percent drop in sunlight taken in by the solar raiment on the vehicle . We know that junk storms on Mars can kill solar - power missions ( RIP Opportunity , always in our mettle ) so no one was take any chances .
trajectory 19 is now schedule no earlier than Sunday , January 23 , and we ’re trusted Ingenuity will knock it out of the parkland .
