From: "Tim" <tjp314@pacbell.net>

Date: October 25, 2005 10:55:19 AM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: MER B on Mars

Alan:

Very much so.  Dust clouds in particular can be pretty opaque.  Water or CO2 clouds aren't 

always (though the polar hoods are).

Right now at Meridiani Planum, the atmosphere is pretty dusty due to the regional storm 

to the west.  This affects the solar power available to the rovers, but not as much as dust 

settling on the panels themselves.  Fortunately, both rovers have been "cleaned" from time 

to time by local winds.  I'm wondering whether we'll start having problems again (like 

around the end of the nominal mission) with settling outpacing these cleaning events as 

Mars' atmosphere "settles down" again after the current dust storm season is over.  Only 

time will tell.

-Tim.

--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, Alan Friedman <alan@g...> wrote:

Hi Tim -

Fascinating. Does the martian atmosphere affect imaging from the 

orbiter looking in as ours does looking out?

Alan

On Oct 24, 2005, at 6:18 PM, Tim wrote:

Hi guys:

Check this out:

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/10/24/index.html

Before and after images, taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (about a 

14" Cass) on Mars Global

Surveyor, of the rover near "Erebus Crater" on October 5th.  I keep 

our location map up to

date with daily  panoramas from the rover mosaicked with the MOC 

images taken before and

after landing, so it was cool to have independent verification from 

orbit of my prediction

(within a meter or so) of where the rover was with respect to ground 

features.

It's also weird going from centimeter/pixel (or higher resolution) 

images of Mars at my "day

job" to something more like hundreds of kilometers/pixel at night 

from home! 

Of course, I haven't even seen the sky since Friday, since we're 

socked in with the marine

layer!

-Tim.

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