NASA JPLKonto zweryfikowane

Lisa Grossman: what data are you taking of storm? Zurek: Infrared data tells us about particle sizes. We're looking at atmosphere at many levels. MAVEN is dipping down to 160 km at moment. They're safe, and it's interesting to see response of upper atmos to lower atmos.

Callas: We had very good dust factor so our energy production was excellent going in to this time. We'd already taken steps to maximize energy production anyway. There were no real measures to take, and in hindsight, nothing we could do to set up better.

Zurek: We've been trying to be prepared for this storm, define operations sequences that we'd implement if the dust got high in the atmosphere, but much of it was to continue standard observations so we could catch the beginning of it.

Callas: When designing Opportunity, we gave consideration to cleaning methods for solar panels, but in the end, the best solution was to build bigger solar panels. It's worked really well for us so far.

(If you look at early concepts for Opportunity, you'll see much smaller solar arrays. They added those bat-wing-like extensions later in development to dramatically increase array extent. In hindsight a choice that enabled its incredible longevity.)

Oooh a good question, asking Zurek to compare and contrast what it probably looks like to the opening of The Martian. Zurek: Wind speeds are high, but you're not going to be able to blow a spacecraft over with it.

https://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/status/1006966529244651520 …

Zurek: surface winds near Opportunity may not be very strong; it's high winds at altitude that are spreading it globally.