NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers do not have to worry about the Martian dust storm affecting their energy levels, as the two rovers are nuclear-powered. However, the same cannot be said for the InSight lander, as it is solar-powered. Now, because of the continent-size dust storm looming over the red planet's Southern Hemisphere, the poor lander is having a difficult time gathering energy.
As the storm increased the dusty haze in the Martian atmosphere, less sunlight reached the InSight's solar panels, and the landers energy fell significantly from 425 watt-hours per sol (a term for a day in Mars), to only 275.
It was decided that the lander turn off its seismometer for the next two weeks to conserve power.
Chuck Scott, InSight's project manager, describes that they are now "on the ground floor" in the power situation. "If we can ride this out, we can keep operating into winter — but I'd worry about the next storm that comes along," he continues.
While common on Mars at all times of the Martian year, more and bigger dust storms occur during northern fall and winter. And while winds blow up to 60 mph (about 97 kph), storms on Mars are not that strong (compared to Earth) due to the planet's thin air.
(Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech)
(Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS)