Swirling columns of sand and dust, known as dust devils, are a feature of desert areas on Mars and on Earth. Now, a study of terrestrial dust devils has shown that around two thirds of the fine particles lifted by these vortices ...
Space Exploration
Sep 18, 2017
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From its perch high on a ridge, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this image of a Martian dust devil twisting through the valley below. The view looks back at the rover's tracks leading up the north-facing ...
Space Exploration
Apr 5, 2016
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Buried in the shallow soft mud of a dry California lake bed, a seismometer was able to detect the tiny tilts of the ground as it was pulled up by passing dust devils. The experiment, described online November 10 in the Bulletin ...
Space Exploration
Nov 9, 2015
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I study how windblown desert features can be used to monitor wind patterns and atmospheric conditions in remote places, such as Mars, where there are plenty of pictures of the surface but not many instruments on the ground.
Space Exploration
Oct 8, 2015
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Cold and windy with a chance of dust storms, that's what a weather forecaster might say about Mars. But if we want our colonization plans of the Red Planet to be successful, a better understanding of Martian weather patterns ...
Space Exploration
Dec 30, 2014
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Spinning up a dust devil in the thin air of Mars requires a stronger updraft than is needed to create a similar vortex on Earth, according to research at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
Space Exploration
Dec 19, 2014
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(Phys.org) —The surface of Mars is full of activity, with dust storms, dust devils, and drifting dunes in constant motion. Scientists suspect that similarly rich activity may exist underneath the surface, even though it ...
(Phys.org) —Mars has lost much of its original atmosphere, but what's left remains quite active, recent findings from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity indicate. Rover team members reported diverse findings today at the European ...
Space Exploration
Apr 8, 2013
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In this latest update from the MSL team, Ashwin Vasavada, the Deputy Project Scientist, explains how Curiosity has been monitoring the winds and radiation levels in Gale Crater. Curiosity has also been looking for dust devils—the ...
Space Exploration
Nov 19, 2012
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(Phys.org)—Observations of wind patterns and natural radiation patterns on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover are helping scientists better understand the environment on the Red Planet's surface.
Space Exploration
Nov 15, 2012
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