back to article NASA's Mars rovers feel effects of TITANIC DUST STORM

A huge Martian dust storm tracked from orbit by NASA has affected both Curiosity and Opportunity, the agency's active rovers on the planet's surface. Nearly planetwide mosaic of dust storm by Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter Stitched together shot of Mars during the storm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The Mars Reconnaissance …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A good excuse to cover up the 'history making' discovery yesterday?

    'it was windy, we lost it'

  2. Ian 62
    Alert

    See!! See!!! Mankinds activities do cause global warming.

    We've put a nuclear power station on Mars and risen the temperature by 25degrees!

    We must put a stop to this, all future mars robots must be wind, water and solar powered.

    And have you seen how much CO2 is in the atmosphere? That must have been us too. And the ice caps have melted. It's all Obamas fault. If we'd taught Creationism there would be no need for NASA.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      "We must put a stop to this, all future mars robots must be wind, water and solar powered."

      Umm, they have mostly been solar powered up until now.

      And since Mars atmosphere is 1/100th the density of earths it doesn't take much energy (relatively speaking) to raise its temp by 25C.

      1. Adam Connelly
        FAIL

        I think you possibly need your sense of humour checked. Or is it suddenly not a joke if the person doesn't use the joke alert icon?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "I think you possibly need your sense of humour checked. Or is it suddenly not a joke if the person doesn't use the joke alert icon?"

          If the jokes are so totally unamusing and a complete failure at satire , then yes , it would help somewhat.

      2. Arctic fox
        Trollface

        @boltar "Umm, they have mostly been solar powered up until now."

        As a service. Simply print it out and keep it by your keyboard.

        noun: Satire

        1.

        the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

        2.

        a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.

        3.

        a literary genre comprising such compositions.

    2. xperroni
      Mushroom

      We must put a stop to this, all future mars robots must be wind, water and solar powered.

      I further propose we have members of environmental NGO's (Greenpeace, WWF, etc) on-site to verify compliance.

      All of them, if possible.

    3. PaulR79

      *checking reasons off*

      House!

  3. Thomas 4

    ?

    What's that green stuff along the bottom of the photos? Is there Tiberium growing on Mars?

    1. James Micallef Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: ?

      Never mind teh green stuff, what about the lake of liquid water along the bottom of the shot?

  4. Anonymous Custard
    Thumb Up

    Opportunity

    And good to see Opportunity still going along, doing work and not getting forgotten by being overshadowed by it's bigger little brother. Let's hope it does outlast this latest potential threat.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Opportunity

      NASA haven't forgotten it. They're going to bring the 2 together for an interplanetary episode of Robot Wars.

      My money's on the one with the laser beams.

  5. Avatar of They
    Mushroom

    Title

    See Nuclear FTW, all those green hippies saying solar is better... Meh!

    Two solar powered rovers and one is dead, the other might flat line because it can't get precious energy. But a good 'ole Nuclear laser toting robot tank is just driving on through the dust and continuing to scare the locals.

  6. Charles Manning

    Does the wind cause the warming, or the dust?

    Here on Planet Earth, there are many warm winds that will cause warming of greater than 25 degrees. These winds come by various names: foehn, Chinook, Berg, North Wester etc.

    These all involve two factors: mountains - which Mars has - and precipitation - which Mars would seem to lack.

    That really makes it hard to attempt any like-for-like comparisons between Mars and Earth.

  7. Hieronymus Howerd

    .

    Expect a Lewis Page article denying that the temperature rose at all any minute now.

    1. Hieronymus Howerd

      Re: .

      Thanks for the downvote, Lewis.

  8. paulc
    FAIL

    Rare?

    I wouldn't consider them to be rare...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    what if..

    it's not a dust storm, but a planet wide algae-bloom? A massive micro-organism orgy.

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