Weather & Radar
Home / Weather News /

Ingenuity's mission halts: How do dust storms affect Mars' exploration?

01:00 AM
January 26, 2022

Mars rover’s mission halts
How do dust storms affect exploration?

ingenuity, mars

Having a successful flight is a tough job, here on Earth and on other planets. Just like on our planet, weather plays a big role in a flight’s possible takeoff. NASA’s Ingenuity’s latest flight came to a halt after bad weather on the Red Planet threatened the exploration of the Jezero crater.

For NASA’s Ingenuity, the rover studying Mars, it’s been a busy year. Its helicopter has completed 18 flights to date since its first flight on April 19, 2021. The 19th flight of the helicopter was scheduled to happen on January 5th, but scientists with the help of the other rover Perseverance, located ahead of Ingenuity, were able to capture an approaching dust storm. Now the flight is not scheduled to happen any earlier than January 23rd. Hopefully, the weather will improve for a flight by that time.

The Red Planet is dusty, and dust season increases in the fall and winter seasons (in its southern hemisphere) which are the seasons coming up next for Ingenuity. Scientists say that this is the earliest they have seen a dust storm move through. Even though Mars does not have as many weather stations as we do on Earth, weather conditions have been monitored for years by the weather stations installed in the rovers. The suite of instruments closely monitors the air density and winds throughout the day, tracking changes with seasons.

Dust storms have big impacts on the rovers. The dust can prevent the dust from reaching the rovers' solar panels, and more dust means more heat, which decreases the air density, which is already very low on this planet, making it much harder for Ingenuity to fly.

Considering that the dust season is coming up, it is likely that the number of flights that Ingenuity will be able to do in the next 6sixmonths will be limited. But there is always hope for next season. Anyways, there is lots of exploration and measurements that can be taken in the dust. The research goes on!

Irene Sans
More on the topic
Saturday, April 19, 2025

Your weather - Your shots

Sunrise views and misty mornings
Saturday, March 29, 2025

As Spring continues

UV forecasts in the app
Happy Earth Day
Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Employ renewable energy

Earth Day 2025 - Our Power, Our Planet
All weather news
This might also interest you
Thursday, May 8, 2025

Breakfast Brief

Stormy southeast, tranquil West Coast
Monday, May 5, 2025

Damaging winds, floods

More severe storms for South Florida
Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Breakfast Brief

Omega block starts to break down
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.com

instagramfacebookthreadsContact uslinkList
Privacy policy | Legal info