Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Dec 23, 2004 19:44:02 GMT -6
Mystery Martian ‘car wash’ helps rover
Space buggy’s solar panels are swept clean — but how?
Space buggy’s solar panels are swept clean — but how?
Something strange is happening to the Opportunity Rover. It has been getting "Cleaned" to near showroon condition. Martian dust was gathering on the solar panels, dramatically cutting down on available power. But after this "cleaning", it is back to it's full power.
More here on MSNBC:
A phenomenon akin to a space-borne car wash has boosted the performance of one of the two NASA rovers probing the surface of Mars.
Layers of dust have been swept from the solar panels of the Mars Opportunity vehicle while it was closed down during the Martian night. The cleaning boosted the panels' power output close to their maximum 900 watt-hours per day, after at one stage dropping to 500 watt-hours because of the heavy Martian dirt.
"These exciting and unexplained cleaning events have kept Opportunity in really great shape," the London-based New Scientist magazine quoted NASA rover team leader Jim Erickson as saying.
The chief scientist for the rover missions, Cornell University's Steve Squyres, chuckled at the car wash reference. However, he acknowledged that Opportunity, unlike its twin Spirit rover on the other side of the Red Planet, has somehow been getting a thorough cleaning.
The entire story here:
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There is the possibility that Mars experiences Rain showers, cleaning off the vehicle. There are images from the orbiter that show standing water and seepage on the surface. Why NASA doesn't acknowledge this, I don't know, but Mars is more Earth like than what they want us to believe.
That or some Martian is cleaning off the windshield expecting spare Earth change.
