Are red planet dust storms really dangerous?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The film "The Martian" clearly demonstrates that the red planet is a dangerous place. In particular, due to dust storms sweeping away everything in its path. But is this really the case and is it worth fearing Martian sandstorms?

For years, science fiction writers have tried to imagine human life on Mars. Among them is Andy Weir, who published the best-selling book The Martian. In this book, the adventure begins as a massive dust storm rips off some of the equipment and destroys the astronaut camp.

Mars is indeed infamous for its powerful storms, some of which can be seen from Earth. Researchers regularly see fairly large dust storms through a telescope that last for weeks or months. There are also "global" dust storms - they occur every three Martian years and cover almost the entire planet.

However, Andy Weir was wrong when he caused a dust storm to break the antenna and disrupt the life of the astronauts. Martian storms are not capable of this for a number of reasons. Even the strength of the wind from these storms most likely would not have been able to overturn or break the equipment. The fact is that the atmosphere of Mars is very rarefied - its density is about 1% of the earth's. Therefore, even a wind moving at a speed of 100 km / h could not become a destructive force. For example, to launch a kite on Mars, you need wind, the speed of which will be several times higher than on Earth.

Of course, dust storms on Mars are not entirely harmless. Individual sand particles are very small and slightly electrostatic, so they easily stick to any surface. A good example of this is the Curiosity rover after traveling the red planet. He ceases to be like himself and becomes a ridiculous lump of dust and sand. And this is a huge problem for engineers designing equipment for Mars exploration. If, say, solar panels get covered in dust, they will perform worse and generate less energy. In The Martian, astronauts spend part of the day wiping off batteries and scraping off particles of sand. It looks like this could become a reality for future settlers on the red planet.

There is a possibility that a global dust storm could envelop all of Mars and block any sunlight. However, this is unlikely to happen: the heat from the Sun is the force that moves the microscopic particles of sand in the air.

When sunlight hits the surface of Mars, it heats the air around it. The upper layers remain cooler, the convection process begins and small dust particles rise upward along with the heated air. Light gusts of wind combine and merge, and they can become a global dust storm that engulfs the entire planet. Therefore, even the densest and thickest dust storm will not stop sunlight for long - after all, it will subside soon after the temperature on the planet's surface drops.

Future Martians should not be particularly afraid of this development of events. It is best to prepare for a thorough daily cleaning of your equipment in the morning.

Based on materials from NASA.