Perseverance Rover Captures Dust Devils Whirling Across Mars (Mars Report)
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured new images of multiple dust devils while exploring the rim of Jezero Crater on Mars. The largest dust devil was approximately 210 feet wide (65 meters). In this Mars Report, atmospheric scientist Priya Patel explains what dust devils can teach us about weather conditions on the Red Planet.
NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021, with a key objective to collect and cache samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/INTA-CSIC/Space Science Institute/ISAE-Supaero/University of Arizona
Transcript
Priya Patel, Mars 2020 Atmospheres Team
We often see dust devils in the desert, but this one happened on Mars.
NASA's Perseverance rover captured an incredible new video and I'm going to tell you all about it.
Perseverance was exploring the rim of Jezero Crater when it spotted these twisters. The big one is 210 feet wide. That's like the wingspan of a large airliner.
But if you were standing there, not to worry. The Martian atmosphere is so thin that it would feel like a gust of wind, though you'd get pretty dirty.
Scientists are fascinated by dust devils on Mars. By studying these, we better understand wind patterns and surface-atmosphere interactions.
Dust devils also tell us how dust-lifting affects the planet's atmosphere and climate over time.
Perseverance was also first to capture an audio recording of a dust devil on Mars.
(sounds of wind gusts)
We've even observed this phenomenon from space. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a dust devil that was estimated to be 12 miles high. That's about the length of Manhattan.
We've also captured the tracks these dust devils leave behind. These can tell us about the directions dust devils traveled.
Every time we spot a dust devil, it helps us refine our climate models of Mars.