                  APOD: 2018 June 23 - Curiosity s Dusty Self

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                 2018 June 23
                                      [2]
                            Curiosity's Dusty Self
  Image Credit: NASA [3] , JPL-Caltech [4] , MSSS [5] , Curiosity Mars Rover

Explanation: Winds on Mars [6] can't actually blow spacecraft over. But in the
low gravity, martian winds can loft fine dust particles in planet-wide storms,
like the dust storm now raging on the Red Planet [7] . From the martian
surface on sol 2082 (June 15), this self-portrait [8]  from the Curiosity
rover shows the effects of the dust storm, reducing sunlight and visibility at
the rover's location in Gale crater. Made with the Mars Hand Lens Imager, its
mechanical arm is edited out of the mosaicked images. Curiosity's recent drill
site Duluth [9] can be seen on the rock just in front of the rover on the
left. The east-northeast Gale crater rim fading into the background is about
30 kilometers away [10] . Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope
thermoelectric generator [11]  and is expected to be unaffected by the
increase in dust at Gale crater. On the other side of Mars [12] , the
solar-powered Opportunity rover has ceased its operations due to the even more
severe lack of sunlight at its location on the west rim of Endeavour crater.

                    Tomorrow's picture: plume shadow [13]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< [14] | Archive [15] | Submissions [16] | Index [17] | Search [18] | Calendar
  [19] | RSS [20] | Education [21] | About APOD [22] | Discuss [23] | > [24]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [25] (MTU [26] ) & Jerry Bonnell [27]
                                  (UMCP [28] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [29] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [30]
              A service of: ASD [31]  at NASA [32]  / GSFC [33]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [34]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1806/PIA22486CuriositySelf2018dustStorm2048.jpg
  [3] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [4] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
  [5] http://www.msss.com/
  [6] https://www.nasa.gov/realmartians
  [7] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/
curiosity-photos-show-martian-dust-storm-growing
  [8] https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22486
  [9] https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22330
  [10] ap180616.html
  [11] https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/technology/
technologiesofbroadbenefit/power/
  [12] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/
opportunity-hunkers-down-during-dust-storm
  [13] ap180624.html
  [14] ap180622.html
  [15] archivepix.html
  [16] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [17] lib/aptree.html
  [18] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [19] calendar/allyears.html
  [20] /apod.rss
  [21] lib/edlinks.html
  [22] lib/about_apod.html
  [23] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180623
  [24] ap180624.html
  [25] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [26] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [27] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [28] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [29] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [30] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [31] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [32] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [33] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [34] http://www.mtu.edu/
