{"id":12451,"date":"2016-04-06T01:58:02","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T05:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12451"},"modified":"2016-04-06T01:58:02","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T05:58:02","slug":"opportunity-rover-spots-a-dust-devil-scooting-by","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12451","title":{"rendered":"Opportunity rover spots a dust devil scooting by"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dust devils have been images several times by Mars rovers over the years but this one\u00a0is particularly clear and close:<\/p>\n

Opportunity’s Devilish View from on High<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"PIA20012-16[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From its perch high on a ridge, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this image of a Martian dust devil twisting through the valley below. The view looks back at the rover’s tracks leading up the north-facing slope of “Knudsen Ridge,” which forms part of the southern edge of “Marathon Valley.”<\/p>\n

Opportunity took the image using its navigation camera (Navcam) on March 31, 2016, during the 4,332nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars.<\/p>\n

Dust devils were a common sight for Opportunity’s twin rover, Spirit, in its outpost at Gusev Crater. Dust devils have been an uncommon sight for Opportunity, though.<\/p>\n

Just as on Earth, a dust devil is created by a rising, rotating column of hot air. When the column whirls fast enough, it picks up tiny grains of dust from the ground, making the vortex visible.<\/p>\n

During the uphill drive to reach the top of Knudsen Ridge, Opportunity’s tilt reached 32 degrees, the steepest ever for any rover on Mars.<\/p>\n

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.<\/p>\n

More information about Opportunity is at these sites:<\/p>\n