Dust storms - yep - they'd be a problem. But when the wind _isn't_ blowing, you've got an atmosphere that resembles what you'd find here on Earth... from a balloon at an altitude of 100,000 feet. What's really got me going is what impact (pun intended) this comet might have on Mars science missions if even a near-miss "only" showers Mars with a cloud of comet dust and assorted junk from the comet's coma. That could be a major problem for all those satellites orbiting Mars. It would be a real dope-slap to all of us if Curiosity, which could have worked on Mars for a decade, was blinded or otherwise disabled by a high-speed shower of comet dust while at the same time MRO and the other orbiting Mars missions were similarly knocked out of commission. Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 10:34 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] More on Mars / comet Interesting post, Seth, thanks. I wonder if the almost non-existant Martian atmosphere would result in a noticeable gain in the naked-eye limiting magnitude? Those dust storms can be a real bite in the bum, though... On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 9:52 AM, Seth Jarvis <SJarvis@slco.org> wrote:
This close approach in October 2014 between Mars and comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring is really fascinating.
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