[Scientists at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Center are using the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to monitor a large dust storm on the Red Planet. The instrument, a multi-wavelength camera sensitive to five visible wavelengths and 10 infrared ones, is providing Mars scientists and spacecraft controllers with global maps that track how much atmospheric dust is obscuring the planet.]

[As seen from orbit, the dust storm has the effect of veiling surface features -- or even concealing them completely, which hasn't happened yet in this event. "This storm isn't as big or severe as the one in 2001," Bandfield says. "THEMIS and other orbiters can still see the surface, despite the continuing dust activity."

From the ground, the dust in the air has cut the amount of sunlight reaching the rovers' solar panels and reducing their electrical power. "If you were standing there, you'd see the sky looking tawny with haze," explains Bandfield. "The sun would appear as a sharp-edged disk, but the light level would be noticeably lower than what you would see under a totally clear sky."

Luckily, say scientists, summer is a time when the rovers can best survive under reduced power. If the storm had struck during local winter, the rovers might not get enough power during the day to stay alive through the cold Martian night.

How long will this storm last" No one knows for sure, but Bandfield notes its effects won't disappear as quickly as the storm erupted. "Mars," he says, "will remain dusty for at least a couple months more."]

From, Science Daily.com and Arizona State University.