Dust Storm Moving Near Phoenix Lander

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Caption:

This series of images show the movement of several dust storms near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. These images were taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on the 137th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 13, 2008).

These images were taken about 50 seconds apart, showing the formation and movement of dust storms for nearly an hour. Phoenix scientists are still figuring out the exact distances these dust storms occurred from the lander, but they estimate them to be about 1 to 2 kilometers (.6 or 1.2 miles) away.

Background Info:

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.

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