PIA09261: Spirit Feels Dust Gust


Spirit Feels Dust Gust

Caption:

On sol 1149 (March 28, 2007) of its mission, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit caught a wind gust with its navigation camera. A series of navigation camera images were strung together to create this movie. The front of the gust is observable because it was strong enough to lift up dust. From assessing the trajectory of this gust, the atmospheric science team concludes that it is possible that it passed over the rover. There was, however, no noticeable increase in power associated with this gust. In the past, dust devils and gusts have wiped the solar panels of dust, making it easier for the solar panels to absorb sunlight.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Instrument Host Spirit (MER-A)
Host Type Rover
Instrument Navigation Camera (Navcam)
Detector
Extra Keywords Atmosphere, Dust, Grayscale, Movie
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2007-04-16
Date in Caption 2007-03-28
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09261
Identifier PIA09261