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and last name today's conference is

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being recorded

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if there are any objections you may

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disconnect at this time now I'd like to

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turn the conference over to the Jet

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Propulsion Laboratory

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thank you you may begin thank you very

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much I'm Jane Platt in the JPL Media

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Relations office in Pasadena California

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today's topic is the dust storm that's

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currently raging on Mars and we'll be

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talking about how it's affecting the

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long-lived

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opportunity Rover and how it's also

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providing interesting possibilities for

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various missions to study the science of

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the storm we're going to be hearing from

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three speakers today and we'll take

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questions from reporters on the line and

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we'll try to take some from people who

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are asking questions on social media as

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well you can follow along with visuals

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at HTTP colon slash slash w w NS a govt

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slash Mars dust storm telecon once more

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www.nasa.gov/twan

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Telecom and again as was mentioned by

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dory our operator if you want to ask a

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question later on as we get to that

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point press star-1 and we'll put you in

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the queue like to introduce our panel we

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have with us here at JPL this morning

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John Kallis the opportunity project

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manager at JPL we also have rich Zurich

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the Mars program office chief scientist

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at JPL and at NASA headquarters we have

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Jim Watson the director of the Mars

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exploration program at NASA and we do

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have one other person who will be with

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us and available to answer questions and

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that's Dave Lavery the program executive

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at NASA headquarters for the opportunity

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and curiosity Rover's we're going to

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start now with John Kallis John Thank

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You Jane there's a severe dust storm on

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Mars that's threatening opportunity as a

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result the rover has fallen asleep and

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is waiting out the storm the project

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team is very concerned we're watching

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the weather can we're listening with the

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Deep Space Network for signals but let

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me give you a timeline of what brought

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us up to this

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point today back on May 30th MRO

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the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter saw the

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first indications of a dust storm on

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Mars they notified the MA our project on

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Friday evening that the dust storm was

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headed in a direction that may affect

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the opportunity Rover at that time we

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already had a three day plan on the

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rover that was running over the weekend

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over the weekend we did see increases in

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atmospheric opacity which is a measure

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of the amount of dust in the atmosphere

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there's a graphic online that you can

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refer to its labeled Calais one and it

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shows the subsequent atmospheric opacity

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measurements starting with what we call

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a tower towel one three five seven nine

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and eleven all the way on the right-hand

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side so we can use that for reference as

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I refer to these numbers so on the

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weekend on June second we observed an

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atmosphere capacity of 0.6 which is

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about normal for this time of year the

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rover was generating 645 watt hours the

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next day of the atmosphere capacity

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jumped to 1.5 so that's a pretty

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significant increase in one day not

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uncommon for the onset of a storm we

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continue to watch things as over the

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weekend and then on Monday morning we

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began our next planning day for the

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rover and we at that point decided that

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we needed to see science operations and

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to configure the rover for a lower power

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operation as this dust storms it was

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increasing and looked to be more

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threatening so on Monday we measured the

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atmospheric capacity at a little over

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two and at that point the energy

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production the rover had dropped by

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almost half to three hundred and

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forty-five watt hours we continued on

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the next day with another low power plan

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and we were unable to get a measurement

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of atmospheric capacity on the next day

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because it had likely increased is such

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a high level that our ability to measure

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it is

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diminish but we did measure the energy

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production of the rover and it dropped

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to about a hundred and thirty three watt

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hours so again by more than a factor of

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two in one day

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so uh our concern level continued to

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increase so on on the next planning day

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which was Wednesday June 6 we decided

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that we were going to do a three day

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actually a two day plan and we chose not

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to have the rover communicate to us on

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the first day but wait until the second

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day and this is a power saving measure

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so essentially the rover just wakes up

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in the morning receives the commands go

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back goes back to sleep sleeps through

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the night into the next day a brief wake

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up in the morning going back to sleep

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and then wakes up in the afternoon tries

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a measurement of atmospheric opacity

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communicates with one of our orbiting

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relay satellites and then goes back to

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sleep so very short duration of up time

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however we do want to maintain some

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level of activity on the rover because

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that's what keeps the rover warm so

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we're trying to not only manage power

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consumption but manage the temperatures

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on the rover so on Friday we we planned

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a three saw plan to carry us through the

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weekend again we were implementing a

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very low power plan where we essentially

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shut everything down except a one wakeup

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for measurement of atmospheric opacity

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and the coincident communication with a

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relay orbiter in that case was the Mars

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Reconnaissance Orbiter so we did get

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that data down on the ground that was on

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on Sunday June 10th the rover was still

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active at that point but the atmospheric

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opacity was estimated at ten point eight

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and that is a record high for

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measurements on Mars and that would

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correspond to the graphic the right-hand

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panel so it's it's completely black on

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Mars it's completely dark the energy

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production of the rover was measured at

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only 22 watt hours so even though we

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heard from the rover the rover was under

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master sequence control I made the

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decision to declare space crab

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emergency because it wasn't enough

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energy for the rover to sustain

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activities and it would be dropping into

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what we refer to as a low-power fault

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this is where the rover senses it

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doesn't have enough energy to maintain

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activities and it essentially turns

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everything off with only the master

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clock connected to the batteries so all

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energy that's coming out of the solar

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rays is going into the batteries and the

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master clock that was the last

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communication we had from the rover we

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did listen for a fault window on the

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rover we also sent commands to elicit a

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response from the rover and we've heard

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nothing since then so our expectation at

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this point is that the rover has gone to

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sleep it's in this low-power mode and

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that will remain in that low-power mode

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until there's sufficient energy to

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charge the batteries back above a

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certain threshold at that point the

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rover will autonomously try to wake up

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and communicate with us so at this point

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we're in a waiting mode we're listening

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everyday for possible signals from the

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rover and be prepared to respond to that

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going forward though the concern is

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temperature on the rover because the

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rover is not active it will be getting

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colder the good news there is that the

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dust storm has warm temperatures on Mars

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we're also going into the summer season

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and so the rover will not get as cold as

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as we would normally we've done an

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estimate that shows that the rover

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should stay above its minimum allowable

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operating temperatures for the long term

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so we should be able to ride out the

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storm when the Stockland the skies clear

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and the rover begins to power up it

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should begin to communicate with us

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there's one last complexity that we'll

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have to deal with and that if the rover

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is generating less than 22 watt hours of

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energy that we won't have enough energy

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even to sustain the mission clock and

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we'll have what's also called a clock

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fault which means the rover doesn't know

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what time it is and so that at that

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point the rover goes into an autonomous

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mode that when it does have power to

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wake up

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it sets timers at regular end

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just to wake up to see if it can

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communicate to earth it waits until

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there's sufficient energy on the solar

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array so it's going to use the solar

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arrays to know when it's daytime and we

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will be prepared to listen and respond

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to the rover when that happens so we're

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concerned but we're we're hopeful that

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things will the storm will clear and the

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rover will begin to communicate to us

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we're supported by a great team we're

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very appreciative of all the assets at

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Mars that are looking out for us and

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providing communication services to the

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entire Mars program and then the deep

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space network is providing us with

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excellent support so at this point I'll

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turn it over to research Thank You Jon

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the situation on Mars really highlights

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a key question about Mars today which is

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why do these massive widespread dust

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events occur in some years but not in

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other years local dust storms similar to

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those that occur in the American

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Southwest from the Middle East for

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instance can occur in any season on Mars

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but they typically grow to continental

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size only during the southern spring and

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summer when Mars is a little closer to

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the Sun as those regional storms that do

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occur only a dozen so have ever in the

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historical record or the modern record

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expanded to encircle the planet or cover

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the globe thanks to the ongoing Mars

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exploration program Mars has been

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monitored by a series of spacecraft

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orbiting the planet on essentially a

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daily basis for nearly 20 years planet

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encircling storms were observed in 2001

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in 2007 however in the five Mars years

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since then no regional storm had grown

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to planetary scale but the current storm

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on Mars is just days away from meeting

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that classification of a planet and

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circling dust event each observation of

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these large storms raises closer to

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being able to model these events and

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perhaps even one day to forecast them

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this would be like forecasting El Nino

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events on earth or the severity of

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upcoming hurricane seasons there are

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ideas about how to do this but we need

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data to test and refine them the first

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set of images Zurich one it shows you

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the evolution of the storm from an

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initial dust cloud the storm here is

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covered in red food

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ability so that you can see its

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expansion as it goes across the planet

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on May 30th there was just a small local

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storm that had appeared and was spotted

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by the Mars Reconnaissance orbiters Mars

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color imager team and they put together

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these global maps which are formed by a

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mosaic of 13 color strips that show the

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entire globe but each portion of the

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planet is viewed as if it were at 3 p.m.

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00:11:37,390 --> 00:11:34,160
because that's when the orbiter over

275
00:11:39,220 --> 00:11:37,400
flies that area of the planet the black

276
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:39,230
areas are poorly lit polar regions at

277
00:11:44,860 --> 00:11:42,530
the top and bottom the diagrams and

278
00:11:46,300 --> 00:11:44,870
there are a number of data Gore's that

279
00:11:48,190 --> 00:11:46,310
are due to spacecraft walls for

280
00:11:50,650 --> 00:11:48,200
high-resolution imaging of the surface

281
00:11:54,070 --> 00:11:50,660
or to data loss during transmission to

282
00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:54,080
earth as you can see that the time

283
00:11:58,510 --> 00:11:55,850
series shows that the storm headed south

284
00:12:00,850 --> 00:11:58,520
towards opportunity and that happened on

285
00:12:02,740 --> 00:12:00,860
June 1st and that was the moment when it

286
00:12:05,020 --> 00:12:02,750
was realized that there was an event

287
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:05,030
that could potentially affect the rover

288
00:12:10,990 --> 00:12:08,330
closer to the equator you also see that

289
00:12:13,510 --> 00:12:11,000
there's bands of white cloud that go off

290
00:12:15,730 --> 00:12:13,520
and stretch across the planet and the

291
00:12:18,670 --> 00:12:15,740
entire dust haze is now spread over

292
00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:18,680
about a quarter of Mars and remember

293
00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:21,290
that Mars has got the same area is the

294
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:23,330
land area of the earth so this is a very

295
00:12:27,850 --> 00:12:26,330
wide spread of them these active areas

296
00:12:31,180 --> 00:12:27,860
and associated deaths are collectively

297
00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:31,190
called the dusk to bend and the original

298
00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:32,870
star eventually emerged before Chris

299
00:12:36,820 --> 00:12:34,370
Jones that originated in the southern

300
00:12:38,140 --> 00:12:36,830
hemisphere and that haze is now spread

301
00:12:40,090 --> 00:12:38,150
over Gale Crater where the

302
00:12:43,150 --> 00:12:40,100
nuclear-powered Curiosity rover has

303
00:12:44,830 --> 00:12:43,160
major increased opacity and seeing

304
00:12:47,350 --> 00:12:44,840
greater haziness within the six

305
00:12:52,570 --> 00:12:47,360
kilometer deep crater itself as seen in

306
00:12:55,090 --> 00:12:52,580
the next chart at Zurich - and there you

307
00:12:57,130 --> 00:12:55,100
can see the change in visibility of the

308
00:13:00,460 --> 00:12:57,140
rover as it looks out across the floor

309
00:13:02,260 --> 00:13:00,470
of Gale Crater as the destron expands

310
00:13:04,810 --> 00:13:02,270
the dusty atmosphere absorbs sunlight

311
00:13:06,610 --> 00:13:04,820
producing a powerful feedback because

312
00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:06,620
the heating changes temperatures and

313
00:13:10,540 --> 00:13:08,810
pressures those drive winds and thereby

314
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:10,550
expand the regions where dust can be

315
00:13:15,220 --> 00:13:13,010
raised when dusk is higher in the

316
00:13:18,190 --> 00:13:15,230
atmosphere this feedback can change the

317
00:13:20,350 --> 00:13:18,200
global circulation and the MRO Mars

318
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:20,360
climate sounder has seen it go several

319
00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:21,050
tens

320
00:13:25,540 --> 00:13:23,690
into the atmosphere although the dust

321
00:13:28,540 --> 00:13:25,550
reached those altitudes more slowly in

322
00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:28,550
this storm that is typically the case in

323
00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:31,250
the final chart Zurich 3 you can also

324
00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:33,290
see the integrated observations by the

325
00:13:39,550 --> 00:13:36,490
NASA spacecraft MRO maven Mars Odyssey

326
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:39,560
curiosity and Opportunity Rovers that

327
00:13:43,690 --> 00:13:41,210
are working to characterize this rare

328
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:43,700
event knowing wait dust orange grouse

329
00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:46,610
large in some years but not in other

330
00:13:50,710 --> 00:13:48,410
years is important to understanding the

331
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:50,720
climate of Mars past and present and

332
00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:53,450
also to supporting future missions to

333
00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:55,130
tell more about the program let me turn

334
00:14:01,140 --> 00:13:57,290
it over to Jim Watson director of NASA's

335
00:14:03,790 --> 00:14:01,150
Mars exploration program thank you rich

336
00:14:05,770 --> 00:14:03,800
the current dust storm is providing us

337
00:14:07,660 --> 00:14:05,780
with an unprecedented opportunity to

338
00:14:09,340 --> 00:14:07,670
learn more about Mars and the many

339
00:14:12,190 --> 00:14:09,350
challenges that it presents for

340
00:14:13,810 --> 00:14:12,200
exploration we are fortunate there we

341
00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:13,820
have a record number of operational

342
00:14:17,350 --> 00:14:15,830
spacecraft at Mars enabling us to

343
00:14:19,750 --> 00:14:17,360
observe the storm from many different

344
00:14:21,670 --> 00:14:19,760
perspectives we also have another

345
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:21,680
spacecraft on the way to Mars the

346
00:14:26,650 --> 00:14:24,290
insight Lander and it will be useful for

347
00:14:29,530 --> 00:14:26,660
us to be as prepared as we can for its

348
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:29,540
arrival at at Mars in the end of

349
00:14:33,820 --> 00:14:32,210
November this year knowing and

350
00:14:35,590 --> 00:14:33,830
understanding how these storms behave

351
00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:35,600
will be critically important for our

352
00:14:39,490 --> 00:14:37,490
more ambitious missions that are being

353
00:14:41,950 --> 00:14:39,500
planned for the future such as Mars

354
00:14:44,530 --> 00:14:41,960
sample return which is envisioned to be

355
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:44,540
solar powered as we work to pave the way

356
00:14:48,790 --> 00:14:46,970
for when human explorers arrive it will

357
00:14:51,370 --> 00:14:48,800
be essential that we learn to monitor

358
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:51,380
and hopefully predict these storms in

359
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:53,210
order to help ensure the safety of the

360
00:14:58,600 --> 00:14:55,970
crew turning to the present we're all

361
00:15:00,600 --> 00:14:58,610
pulling for opportunity as you know it's

362
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:00,610
been a remarkably resilient Rover

363
00:15:07,090 --> 00:15:03,650
lasting 15 years well beyond its

364
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:07,100
original design life of just 90 days its

365
00:15:10,950 --> 00:15:08,690
longevity has taught us much about

366
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:10,960
operating on the surface of Mars

367
00:15:15,340 --> 00:15:13,850
regardless of how this turns out this

368
00:15:17,980 --> 00:15:15,350
little Rover has proven to be an

369
00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:17,990
invaluable investment that has greatly

370
00:15:21,210 --> 00:15:20,210
increased our ability to explore the Red

371
00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:21,220
Planet

372
00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:27,770
thank you all right thank you to all our

373
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:30,710
panelists and we're going to start with

374
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:34,570
the Q&A portion of the atelic on

375
00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:35,890
again if you would like to ask a

376
00:15:38,850 --> 00:15:37,510
question please press star 1 and give

377
00:15:41,850 --> 00:15:38,860
the operator your name and your

378
00:15:46,260 --> 00:15:41,860
affiliation we're going to start first

379
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:46,270
with Mike wall from space comm Mike good

380
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:49,690
morning good morning thank you guys for

381
00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:52,330
doing this just like a couple of quick

382
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:54,250
questions I mean how many days do you

383
00:15:59,070 --> 00:15:56,650
reckon opportunity has before you really

384
00:16:01,080 --> 00:15:59,080
will get really really concerned about

385
00:16:03,660 --> 00:16:01,090
like whether it's going to be able to

386
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:03,670
kind of pull out at us and and how like

387
00:16:08,850 --> 00:16:05,890
low can the temperatures go before

388
00:16:10,110 --> 00:16:08,860
things get really kind of dicey and kind

389
00:16:13,110 --> 00:16:10,120
of how does that compare to what spirit

390
00:16:15,450 --> 00:16:13,120
went through in 2010 okay well first

391
00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:15,460
okay let me address the second part

392
00:16:19,770 --> 00:16:17,890
first the big difference between now and

393
00:16:22,290 --> 00:16:19,780
what spirit went through back in March

394
00:16:25,020 --> 00:16:22,300
in 2010 is spirit was going through

395
00:16:27,150 --> 00:16:25,030
winter so the temperatures were a lot

396
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:27,160
colder and there was a lot less sunlight

397
00:16:32,190 --> 00:16:30,370
here we're approaching summer and as

398
00:16:35,700 --> 00:16:32,200
soon as the skies clear we'll have ample

399
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:35,710
energy production the question is how

400
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:38,170
long can the rover go right now our

401
00:16:41,820 --> 00:16:40,510
thermal predictions is we have a you

402
00:16:43,710 --> 00:16:41,830
know a detailed thermal model of the

403
00:16:45,750 --> 00:16:43,720
rover or set in the environment and we

404
00:16:48,210 --> 00:16:45,760
use the last recorded information from

405
00:16:51,090 --> 00:16:48,220
Mars and we've run that model out for

406
00:16:52,740 --> 00:16:51,100
for many many days and what we find is

407
00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:52,750
that the rover hits a steady state

408
00:16:59,610 --> 00:16:57,370
temperature where there's a balance

409
00:17:01,560 --> 00:16:59,620
between what little energy is coming out

410
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:01,570
of the rover and being lost in the

411
00:17:07,740 --> 00:17:03,730
environment I should remind you that the

412
00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:07,750
rover has on board eight plutonium RH

413
00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:11,530
use each generate about one watt so even

414
00:17:14,699 --> 00:17:12,610
though we're not getting any solar

415
00:17:16,740 --> 00:17:14,709
energy on the rover there is still about

416
00:17:21,990 --> 00:17:16,750
eight watts of thermal energy inside the

417
00:17:24,030 --> 00:17:22,000
insulated box of the rover and so in a

418
00:17:26,220 --> 00:17:24,040
couple of days we should hit that steady

419
00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:26,230
state point and we should be able to sit

420
00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:27,930
there for an extended period of time

421
00:17:33,150 --> 00:17:30,730
until either the skies clear and we get

422
00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:33,160
power or if this storm persists it's

423
00:17:39,390 --> 00:17:34,930
expected that these temperatures would

424
00:17:41,580 --> 00:17:39,400
persist around the vehicle and then you

425
00:17:45,060 --> 00:17:41,590
know how cold can the rover go well it

426
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:45,070
was designed to go to minus 55 degrees C

427
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:47,650
it's flight allowable temperatures minus

428
00:17:50,820 --> 00:17:48,250
42

429
00:17:54,870 --> 00:17:50,830
reisi and so the coldest temperature we

430
00:17:57,060 --> 00:17:54,880
expect to see predicta C is minus 36

431
00:18:00,350 --> 00:17:57,070
degrees C so we think we can ride this

432
00:18:04,140 --> 00:18:00,360
out for for a a while

433
00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:04,150
alright thanks John to two things first

434
00:18:08,910 --> 00:18:06,970
of all we do have quite a few reporters

435
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:08,920
who are waiting to ask questions so on

436
00:18:12,750 --> 00:18:10,690
this first round we're going to limit it

437
00:18:15,090 --> 00:18:12,760
to one question and if needed one quick

438
00:18:18,530 --> 00:18:15,100
follow-up and time allowing we'll go

439
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:18,540
back also to our panelists or speakers

440
00:18:24,090 --> 00:18:21,130
if you could identify yourself since

441
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:24,100
people can't see you and you might

442
00:18:29,010 --> 00:18:25,570
accidentally get attributed with

443
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:29,020
somebody else's quote so anyway we're

444
00:18:33,540 --> 00:18:30,850
gonna take our next question from Marcia

445
00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:33,550
Dunn of Associated Press Marcia yes

446
00:18:38,250 --> 00:18:35,710
thank you what's the chances of

447
00:18:40,620 --> 00:18:38,260
opportunity being buried under dust like

448
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:40,630
under a big dune and buried also buried

449
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:43,090
alive so to speak and is there any risk

450
00:18:49,620 --> 00:18:48,010
to curiosity um this is John Kallis well

451
00:18:53,790 --> 00:18:49,630
I'll take that a baby rich might follow

452
00:18:56,430 --> 00:18:53,800
up the the physical volume of deaths

453
00:18:58,920 --> 00:18:56,440
that would fall on the rover is really

454
00:19:01,050 --> 00:18:58,930
tiny we're talking about a monolayer a

455
00:19:04,310 --> 00:19:01,060
literally a single layer of dust that

456
00:19:06,900 --> 00:19:04,320
could accumulate on the rover so that's

457
00:19:09,450 --> 00:19:06,910
so it's not a concern of the rover being

458
00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:09,460
buried there is a concern that once the

459
00:19:12,630 --> 00:19:11,260
skies clear we may have a lot of dust on

460
00:19:15,900 --> 00:19:12,640
this vehicle that we'll have to deal

461
00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:15,910
with rich did you want to sow curiosity

462
00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:18,910
being nuclear-powered and the fact that

463
00:19:24,470 --> 00:19:21,070
the dust haze has not been as great as

464
00:19:27,150 --> 00:19:24,480
thick there as over opportunity is

465
00:19:29,010 --> 00:19:27,160
actually trying to do some science by

466
00:19:31,710 --> 00:19:29,020
looking to see if there's dust movement

467
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:31,720
inside the crater itself and they're not

468
00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:35,050
too worried at this point and I'll just

469
00:19:39,990 --> 00:19:37,710
repeat what John said which is that

470
00:19:42,660 --> 00:19:40,000
we're talking if you took all the dust

471
00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:42,670
out of the atmosphere here it's a very

472
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:46,030
thin cover and in fact in many respects

473
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:47,650
is kind of like what falls out on your

474
00:19:53,700 --> 00:19:51,730
car on a summer days sometimes but in

475
00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:53,710
the atmosphere it's very absorbent and

476
00:19:56,850 --> 00:19:55,450
that's what's producing the darkness

477
00:20:00,330 --> 00:19:56,860
with the service and scattering the

478
00:20:06,310 --> 00:20:02,680
okay thank you we're gonna take our next

479
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:06,320
question from bill Harwood CBS News yeah

480
00:20:09,820 --> 00:20:08,570
hi this is for John Kallis I I might

481
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:09,830
have just misunderstood you I wanted to

482
00:20:13,510 --> 00:20:11,450
make sure I understood what power level

483
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:13,520
you you thought you were at when you

484
00:20:16,930 --> 00:20:15,290
last heard from it in other words this

485
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:16,940
the clocks still running or do you think

486
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:18,770
you're in that mode you were talking

487
00:20:22,990 --> 00:20:20,930
about I was confused between 22 what

488
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:23,000
hours and 24 Thanks

489
00:20:27,790 --> 00:20:26,210
right yeah so our last measurement of

490
00:20:29,950 --> 00:20:27,800
energy which was from last time we heard

491
00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:29,960
from the rover was approximately around

492
00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:31,730
22 watt hours there's a fair amount of

493
00:20:35,860 --> 00:20:33,350
uncertainty of it because you know these

494
00:20:37,330 --> 00:20:35,870
numbers are so low and that's roughly

495
00:20:40,180 --> 00:20:37,340
the amount of energy you need to

496
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:40,190
maintain them the mission clock so if

497
00:20:46,630 --> 00:20:44,930
we've had a minimum in an energy

498
00:20:49,210 --> 00:20:46,640
production then we should be able to

499
00:20:51,970 --> 00:20:49,220
maintain the clock however if the storm

500
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:51,980
gets you know worse if the atmosphere

501
00:20:55,990 --> 00:20:54,290
capacity is increasing that energy level

502
00:20:58,600 --> 00:20:56,000
will drop and we won't be able to

503
00:21:00,010 --> 00:20:58,610
sustain that the clock and at some point

504
00:21:04,690 --> 00:21:00,020
we'll have a mission clock fall which

505
00:21:06,460 --> 00:21:04,700
will be a more complicated recovery all

506
00:21:10,390 --> 00:21:06,470
right next the next question comes from

507
00:21:12,340 --> 00:21:10,400
Dan Bergen Oh at BuzzFeed Dan hi thanks

508
00:21:13,870 --> 00:21:12,350
very much could you talk a little bit

509
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:13,880
about that more complicated recovery if

510
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:15,290
that's what happens how many days and

511
00:21:19,530 --> 00:21:16,850
watching and waiting are we talking

512
00:21:25,450 --> 00:21:19,540
about and sort of how will that play out

513
00:21:27,790 --> 00:21:25,460
okay so this is John again we likely are

514
00:21:29,530 --> 00:21:27,800
in a low-power fault right now which

515
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:29,540
means that the rubber just shuts

516
00:21:33,430 --> 00:21:31,730
everything off and it waits for power to

517
00:21:35,950 --> 00:21:33,440
come back and when power comes back it

518
00:21:38,170 --> 00:21:35,960
knows to communicate during a very

519
00:21:40,660 --> 00:21:38,180
specific time in the middle of the day

520
00:21:42,820 --> 00:21:40,670
essentially noon time and so we know -

521
00:21:45,460 --> 00:21:42,830
when to listen for the rover so if we

522
00:21:47,170 --> 00:21:45,470
come back when the skies clear we would

523
00:21:49,060 --> 00:21:47,180
expect to hear the rover in one of these

524
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:49,070
fault windows if there's a mission clock

525
00:21:51,850 --> 00:21:50,570
fault

526
00:21:55,030 --> 00:21:51,860
it means the rubber doesn't know what

527
00:21:58,240 --> 00:21:55,040
time it is and so the river then starts

528
00:22:00,930 --> 00:21:58,250
to set a series of check our alarm

529
00:22:02,830 --> 00:22:00,940
clocks at regular intervals to wake up

530
00:22:05,260 --> 00:22:02,840
actually not really to wake up but

531
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:05,270
actually to see if the Sun is up if the

532
00:22:09,130 --> 00:22:07,370
Sun is up then it attempts to wake up if

533
00:22:11,410 --> 00:22:09,140
it's not then it's another one of these

534
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:11,420
alarm clocks to check roughly four hours

535
00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:14,090
later so it tries to

536
00:22:19,930 --> 00:22:17,630
look for the sunny time of day and then

537
00:22:21,430 --> 00:22:19,940
to wake up and so the timing of that is

538
00:22:23,940 --> 00:22:21,440
uncertain because we don't know when

539
00:22:27,610 --> 00:22:23,950
that for our alarm clock will expire

540
00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:27,620
within the you know solar illuminated

541
00:22:31,210 --> 00:22:29,450
time of the day of the rover so it means

542
00:22:33,370 --> 00:22:31,220
we have to attitude to watch them you

543
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:33,380
vigilant and that's the complexity they

544
00:22:37,810 --> 00:22:37,250
are just uncertainly on the time thanks

545
00:22:40,180 --> 00:22:37,820
very much

546
00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:40,190
all right the next question is from Joe

547
00:22:45,970 --> 00:22:44,150
Kalka from NPR hi thanks um two

548
00:22:49,030 --> 00:22:45,980
questions I guess one did how did

549
00:22:52,030 --> 00:22:49,040
opportunity do in the 2000 dust storm

550
00:22:53,790 --> 00:22:52,040
and the second is as you're modeling of

551
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:53,800
how long things are going to work

552
00:22:59,080 --> 00:22:56,090
complicated by the fact that the battery

553
00:23:02,880 --> 00:22:59,090
is now 14 years old on Mars and may be

554
00:23:06,490 --> 00:23:02,890
behaving differently let's say so the

555
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:06,500
2007 dust storm opportunity you know

556
00:23:12,610 --> 00:23:09,650
fared well through that we were able to

557
00:23:14,380 --> 00:23:12,620
maintain sequence control the entire

558
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:14,390
time through that dust storm but we did

559
00:23:18,340 --> 00:23:16,610
have periods of time where we didn't

560
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:18,350
hear from the rover four or four days

561
00:23:24,250 --> 00:23:21,650
where we chose to have it minimize

562
00:23:27,550 --> 00:23:24,260
activities and then communicate with us

563
00:23:29,290 --> 00:23:27,560
on the fourth day so we were able to

564
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:29,300
ride that out but we were always under

565
00:23:35,170 --> 00:23:33,250
sequence control here as of today our

566
00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:35,180
expectation is that we've already done

567
00:23:40,180 --> 00:23:37,370
not into low-power fault these are just

568
00:23:42,390 --> 00:23:40,190
historic low energy levels for the

569
00:23:44,710 --> 00:23:42,400
vehicle

570
00:23:46,330 --> 00:23:44,720
I'm sorry remember you see your second

571
00:23:49,500 --> 00:23:46,340
question second part of your battery

572
00:23:52,450 --> 00:23:49,510
behavior for bite for prediction yeah

573
00:23:55,270 --> 00:23:52,460
you know even though these batteries are

574
00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:55,280
15 years old and they have over 5,000

575
00:24:01,540 --> 00:23:57,890
charge/discharge cycles they still have

576
00:24:03,490 --> 00:24:01,550
about 85 percent of their capacity they

577
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:03,500
are really the finest batteries in the

578
00:24:07,870 --> 00:24:05,330
solar system I mean I only wish my cell

579
00:24:10,510 --> 00:24:07,880
phone battery had half of that so we

580
00:24:13,090 --> 00:24:10,520
actually have a fairly robust batteries

581
00:24:14,620 --> 00:24:13,100
at this time I mean there is uncertainty

582
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:14,630
there's likely higher internal

583
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:17,810
resistance but we think the batteries

584
00:24:23,620 --> 00:24:22,250
will will ride this out well this is

585
00:24:25,210 --> 00:24:23,630
Richard Rico I want to point out that

586
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:25,220
there's tremendous variability in the

587
00:24:30,019 --> 00:24:27,090
opacity across the planet

588
00:24:32,989 --> 00:24:30,029
whereas opportunity is seeing members of

589
00:24:35,779 --> 00:24:32,999
this towel as a measure of that opacity

590
00:24:37,549 --> 00:24:35,789
at 14 curiosity is seeing more like two

591
00:24:40,460 --> 00:24:37,559
to three at the moment although that

592
00:24:42,289 --> 00:24:40,470
members rising we hope that maybe it

593
00:24:45,799 --> 00:24:42,299
will open up and clear skies over the

594
00:24:48,619 --> 00:24:45,809
Rover one of the unusual things about

595
00:24:51,289 --> 00:24:48,629
this storm was the fact that it started

596
00:24:53,090 --> 00:24:51,299
as a local storm which grew normally

597
00:24:55,249 --> 00:24:53,100
those local storms kind of sweep on by

598
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:55,259
opportunity site and go down into the

599
00:24:59,659 --> 00:24:57,210
southern hemisphere before spreading out

600
00:25:01,430 --> 00:24:59,669
into a much bigger event that didn't

601
00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:01,440
happen this time the storm sort of

602
00:25:07,279 --> 00:25:04,080
stalled over the site and has produced

603
00:25:11,509 --> 00:25:07,289
this record measurement of an opacity of

604
00:25:12,830 --> 00:25:11,519
about ten okay the next question we're

605
00:25:16,430 --> 00:25:12,840
going take is we're in the Washington

606
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:16,440
Post and Sarah Caplan hi I'm wondering

607
00:25:19,039 --> 00:25:17,610
if you guys can talk a little bit more

608
00:25:23,899 --> 00:25:19,049
about what we know about what causes

609
00:25:28,039 --> 00:25:23,909
these storms and how I mean and also how

610
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:28,049
long this one is expected to last this

611
00:25:33,730 --> 00:25:32,129
is rich god the storms are starting out

612
00:25:36,100 --> 00:25:33,740
as a local storm and that's pretty much

613
00:25:38,930 --> 00:25:36,110
similar to our experience here on earth

614
00:25:42,619 --> 00:25:38,940
where you have strong winds may be

615
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:42,629
associated with a storm system front

616
00:25:46,460 --> 00:25:44,490
moving through an area and you have

617
00:25:49,669 --> 00:25:46,470
moveable dust on the surface and that's

618
00:25:52,190 --> 00:25:49,679
all you need for a dust storm once it

619
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:52,200
begins to go however the dust can get

620
00:25:56,450 --> 00:25:53,690
lifted higher into the atmosphere

621
00:25:58,639 --> 00:25:56,460
because the dust sort of box itself

622
00:26:01,730 --> 00:25:58,649
because it absorbs the sunlight coming

623
00:26:03,379 --> 00:26:01,740
in heats up and that changes the

624
00:26:04,279 --> 00:26:03,389
circulation to raise it higher into the

625
00:26:08,749 --> 00:26:04,289
atmosphere

626
00:26:11,389 --> 00:26:08,759
does it go because once the storm is not

627
00:26:14,149 --> 00:26:11,399
raising dust anymore the dust begins to

628
00:26:15,830 --> 00:26:14,159
fall out but the higher elevation it is

629
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:15,840
the longer it will take to do that

630
00:26:20,869 --> 00:26:18,210
so there's sort of a correlation between

631
00:26:24,350 --> 00:26:20,879
howl peak and how high the dust goes and

632
00:26:27,799 --> 00:26:24,360
how long the storm will last typically

633
00:26:30,139 --> 00:26:27,809
you get back-to-back on levels and a few

634
00:26:33,230 --> 00:26:30,149
weeks for the very largest storms that

635
00:26:34,639 --> 00:26:33,240
could be a few months and the reason we

636
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:34,649
don't get storms like this on earth is

637
00:26:40,030 --> 00:26:38,369
just there's not as much dust or the

638
00:26:42,220 --> 00:26:40,040
Mars atmosphere is pretty

639
00:26:44,170 --> 00:26:42,230
and so when you get something that can

640
00:26:47,620 --> 00:26:44,180
absorb radiation in the atmosphere and

641
00:26:48,700 --> 00:26:47,630
heat it up it responds very quickly on

642
00:26:51,190 --> 00:26:48,710
the earth there's a lot of heat

643
00:26:54,130 --> 00:26:51,200
reservoir oceans water in the ground the

644
00:26:57,310 --> 00:26:54,140
ground itself and that tends to kind of

645
00:27:00,370 --> 00:26:57,320
modulate the response to it it's not as

646
00:27:05,590 --> 00:27:00,380
immediate or as large Mars will sort of

647
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:05,600
extreme in that regard Thanks take a

648
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:07,850
question now from Tom rising from

649
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:11,810
aerospace America thank you for doing

650
00:27:16,780 --> 00:27:14,450
the call this is Tom I'm wondering if

651
00:27:18,390 --> 00:27:16,790
this I know you thought that dust was

652
00:27:20,710 --> 00:27:18,400
going to be a problem for solar power

653
00:27:22,810 --> 00:27:20,720
when you got into this but did this

654
00:27:25,270 --> 00:27:22,820
catch your engineers by surprise does

655
00:27:31,030 --> 00:27:25,280
this had any Endon C to produce more

656
00:27:32,050 --> 00:27:31,040
plutonium for spacecraft power I think

657
00:27:35,980 --> 00:27:32,060
that's probably a question for

658
00:27:38,140 --> 00:27:35,990
headquarters yes this is Jim D I think

659
00:27:40,300 --> 00:27:38,150
when we started out with our systems on

660
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:40,310
a solar powered design we were fully

661
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:43,610
aware that this possibly exists as rich

662
00:27:50,740 --> 00:27:47,810
explained storms occur but they did not

663
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:50,750
occur with a regularity that we can

664
00:27:55,570 --> 00:27:52,730
count on or coverage that we can count

665
00:27:57,370 --> 00:27:55,580
on so that in the balance of finding an

666
00:27:59,680 --> 00:27:57,380
engineering solution that works and

667
00:28:02,320 --> 00:27:59,690
that's affordable we settled on solar

668
00:28:04,810 --> 00:28:02,330
power for the initial machines the

669
00:28:06,670 --> 00:28:04,820
larger Rovers we're not able to support

670
00:28:08,980 --> 00:28:06,680
the kind of ambitious operations that

671
00:28:11,020 --> 00:28:08,990
we're doing with them using solar power

672
00:28:12,910 --> 00:28:11,030
the arrays are just prohibitive in size

673
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:12,920
and so that's fundamentally why are we

674
00:28:19,660 --> 00:28:17,930
switched over to the nuclear power all

675
00:28:22,140 --> 00:28:19,670
right thanks we're going to take a

676
00:28:25,870 --> 00:28:22,150
question now from nature magazine and

677
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:25,880
Alexander witzy hi thanks for taking my

678
00:28:31,030 --> 00:28:28,250
call my question is about insight on its

679
00:28:33,940 --> 00:28:31,040
way is there any chance this storm if it

680
00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:33,950
goes global could last until its landing

681
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:36,140
and if so how would that affect EDL for

682
00:28:44,980 --> 00:28:42,010
insight I think that the inside itself

683
00:28:48,100 --> 00:28:44,990
uses inertial measurement using it unit

684
00:28:50,140 --> 00:28:48,110
if you will or gyroscopes to provide his

685
00:28:52,990 --> 00:28:50,150
primary guidance and then on touchdown

686
00:28:53,650 --> 00:28:53,000
it uses radar for the final phase of the

687
00:28:55,810 --> 00:28:53,660
landing

688
00:28:58,150 --> 00:28:55,820
neither one of those are bothered by the

689
00:29:00,670 --> 00:28:58,160
dust so if we were to happen to end up

690
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:00,680
in a situation that there was a dust

691
00:29:04,990 --> 00:29:02,450
storm at the time of landing we could

692
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:05,000
fly right through it I think rich can

693
00:29:08,770 --> 00:29:06,890
comment in terms of the longevity of the

694
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:08,780
storm I don't think we would expect this

695
00:29:15,030 --> 00:29:11,450
storm to last much longer than a month

696
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:15,040
or two but it is unprecedented in the

697
00:29:21,430 --> 00:29:19,250
pace at which it has grown and spread

698
00:29:23,740 --> 00:29:21,440
across the globe but in the November

699
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:23,750
November 26th if I recall riotous is

700
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:26,930
when the insight landing it so this

701
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:29,450
storm is not expected to last the

702
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:31,970
question is is well a second storm

703
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:34,010
developed later in the year because we

704
00:29:39,820 --> 00:29:37,490
have seen that in previous Mars years it

705
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:39,830
is a rare event but we did see that

706
00:29:44,380 --> 00:29:41,930
during both the Mariner 9 spacecraft

707
00:29:47,380 --> 00:29:44,390
encounter and the biking mission back in

708
00:29:52,270 --> 00:29:50,470
insight has prepared for looking at what

709
00:29:54,850 --> 00:29:52,280
that does to the environment and how

710
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:54,860
that might affect things like EDL is

711
00:29:59,620 --> 00:29:56,930
that descends to the surface and such

712
00:30:02,020 --> 00:29:59,630
and they have considered all those

713
00:30:04,450 --> 00:30:02,030
situations with a global dust storm a

714
00:30:06,130 --> 00:30:04,460
regional best storm and they think they

715
00:30:10,180 --> 00:30:06,140
had margin to adequately deal with all

716
00:30:14,350 --> 00:30:10,190
those we're gonna hop over to London now

717
00:30:16,300 --> 00:30:14,360
Johnathan Amos for the BBC Thank You

718
00:30:19,390 --> 00:30:16,310
Jane for the opportunity can you just

719
00:30:21,790 --> 00:30:19,400
give us a quick update on the health oh

720
00:30:23,530 --> 00:30:21,800
yeah okay I presume we're still driving

721
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:23,540
backwards and they've got a through

722
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:28,010
arthritic joints so yeah this is John

723
00:30:34,290 --> 00:30:32,450
Kallis prior to this storm the vehicle

724
00:30:36,700 --> 00:30:34,300
is in actually remarkably good health

725
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:36,710
yeah you were recalling that we at a

726
00:30:40,660 --> 00:30:38,690
time had to drive the rover backwards

727
00:30:43,270 --> 00:30:40,670
because we were concerned about where on

728
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:43,280
one of the steering drive actuators

729
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:45,530
that's actually been well behaved we've

730
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:47,450
been doing that for now I'm almost a

731
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:50,330
decade yeah there is one arthritic joint

732
00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:52,370
on the robotic arm but we've been able

733
00:30:56,500 --> 00:30:55,130
to compensate for that we did have a

734
00:30:59,050 --> 00:30:56,510
challenge with one of the steering

735
00:31:00,820 --> 00:30:59,060
mechanisms so we've actually stopped

736
00:31:03,700 --> 00:31:00,830
using that steering mechanism so we're

737
00:31:05,530 --> 00:31:03,710
now at two wheel a two wheel steering

738
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:05,540
vehicle instead of a four wheel steering

739
00:31:11,909 --> 00:31:09,090
vehicle so we drive more like a

740
00:31:13,529 --> 00:31:11,919
but other than that the vehicles it was

741
00:31:15,210 --> 00:31:13,539
in remarkably good health the cameras

742
00:31:16,710 --> 00:31:15,220
were in excellent shape the alpha

743
00:31:19,350 --> 00:31:16,720
particle x-ray spectrometer was

744
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:19,360
collecting excellent data so we're eager

745
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:21,130
for this storm to clear recover the

746
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:22,330
rover and continue on with our

747
00:31:28,950 --> 00:31:25,450
exploration so you've got still got all

748
00:31:32,190 --> 00:31:28,960
your instruments yes

749
00:31:33,930 --> 00:31:32,200
I mean dust will be a concern will

750
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:33,940
likely have some dust on the optics but

751
00:31:38,340 --> 00:31:36,370
our experience from last dust storm is

752
00:31:40,890 --> 00:31:38,350
that the dust actually sheds off the

753
00:31:43,770 --> 00:31:40,900
optics over a short period of time and

754
00:31:51,210 --> 00:31:43,780
we can calibrate out any remaining specs

755
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:51,220
on the glass Irene class at Aviation

756
00:31:56,220 --> 00:31:54,610
Week all right thanks very much um can

757
00:31:58,470 --> 00:31:56,230
you give us an update on the science

758
00:32:03,270 --> 00:31:58,480
that opportunity was doing tired of the

759
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:03,280
disjoin yes is John Kallis I'll start

760
00:32:08,279 --> 00:32:06,370
that maybe rich might head into it we're

761
00:32:10,980 --> 00:32:08,289
at this feature called perseverance

762
00:32:14,220 --> 00:32:10,990
Valley which is a channel that's carved

763
00:32:16,350 --> 00:32:14,230
in the rim of Endeavour crater from

764
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:16,360
orbit it looked like it might be falou

765
00:32:20,850 --> 00:32:18,370
Viall carved I mean some fluid may have

766
00:32:22,710 --> 00:32:20,860
carved this feature and so we're in the

767
00:32:24,510 --> 00:32:22,720
process of exploring that or about

768
00:32:27,210 --> 00:32:24,520
halfway down and we're testing several

769
00:32:28,950 --> 00:32:27,220
hypotheses to its origin whether it was

770
00:32:31,169 --> 00:32:28,960
flowing water that might have carved

771
00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:31,179
this or whether it might have been wind

772
00:32:36,029 --> 00:32:34,510
erosion or a combination of factors so

773
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:36,039
that was our that's our primary science

774
00:32:41,310 --> 00:32:39,610
objective right now once we're done with

775
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:41,320
that we intend to move further down into

776
00:32:45,450 --> 00:32:43,330
the crater along the inside rim and look

777
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:45,460
at the different layers of the crater to

778
00:32:53,220 --> 00:32:49,450
assess the different geological epochs

779
00:32:54,510 --> 00:32:53,230
that are revealed on the inner edge rich

780
00:32:56,310 --> 00:32:54,520
I don't know if you wanted to add

781
00:32:58,649 --> 00:32:56,320
anything more to that well I think the

782
00:33:01,470 --> 00:32:58,659
exploration that opportunity was doing

783
00:33:02,789 --> 00:33:01,480
here shows the example of you know it's

784
00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:02,799
pretty easy when you look at something

785
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:04,510
from orbit to say I think I know what

786
00:33:08,340 --> 00:33:06,130
that is and then you get down on the

787
00:33:11,190 --> 00:33:08,350
ground and you begin to see it's a lot

788
00:33:13,230 --> 00:33:11,200
more complex and the testing of the

789
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:13,240
hypothesis is would still be going on

790
00:33:18,180 --> 00:33:15,490
once opportunity to recovers from this

791
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:18,190
storm getting down to the floor of the

792
00:33:20,540 --> 00:33:19,050
crater

793
00:33:22,130 --> 00:33:20,550
seeing some of the debris that would

794
00:33:24,890 --> 00:33:22,140
there would really help us understand

795
00:33:27,350 --> 00:33:24,900
whether these are wind card or fluid

796
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:27,360
carved or exactly what we're looking at

797
00:33:35,690 --> 00:33:30,330
it just shows that you ground truth is a

798
00:33:37,970 --> 00:33:35,700
good thing quite a few people from the

799
00:33:39,830 --> 00:33:37,980
reporter lines waiting to ask questions

800
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:39,840
and we have some people on social media

801
00:33:43,970 --> 00:33:41,610
as well so right now we'll take one more

802
00:33:45,350 --> 00:33:43,980
from a reporter and then we'll have to a

803
00:33:48,830 --> 00:33:45,360
couple some social and then we'll come

804
00:33:53,930 --> 00:33:48,840
back to the reporters so the next one is

805
00:33:56,650 --> 00:33:53,940
from alan boyle at peak wire oh hi thank

806
00:33:59,270 --> 00:33:56,660
you for taking the question I wanted to

807
00:34:00,530 --> 00:33:59,280
hear a little bit more about the effect

808
00:34:03,350 --> 00:34:00,540
on the team itself

809
00:34:06,410 --> 00:34:03,360
I've seen some tweets where people are

810
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:06,420
really concerned have you had to

811
00:34:10,609 --> 00:34:08,610
reassure members of the team that it's

812
00:34:13,609 --> 00:34:10,619
all going to be alright or what's the

813
00:34:18,230 --> 00:34:13,619
mood of the team yeah it is concerning I

814
00:34:20,240 --> 00:34:18,240
mean this team has a very strong bond

815
00:34:22,250 --> 00:34:20,250
with the rover you know we have a very

816
00:34:24,470 --> 00:34:22,260
tight emotional connection with it and

817
00:34:27,020 --> 00:34:24,480
and we're concerned about it I mean

818
00:34:29,780 --> 00:34:27,030
obviously you know we anthropomorphize

819
00:34:31,639 --> 00:34:29,790
this rover and you know the analogy I

820
00:34:34,730 --> 00:34:31,649
would use right now it's like you have a

821
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:34,740
loved one in a coma in the hospital you

822
00:34:38,359 --> 00:34:36,090
know the doctors are telling you that

823
00:34:41,060 --> 00:34:38,369
okay you just got to give it time and

824
00:34:41,810 --> 00:34:41,070
she'll wake up you know all the vital

825
00:34:44,419 --> 00:34:41,820
signs are good

826
00:34:46,580 --> 00:34:44,429
so it's just waiting it out but you know

827
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:46,590
if it's your 97 year old grandmother

828
00:34:52,220 --> 00:34:48,810
you're going to be very concerned and so

829
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:52,230
we are and and you know by no means are

830
00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:54,810
we out of the woods here the storm is is

831
00:35:01,190 --> 00:34:57,810
threatening it's and we don't know how

832
00:35:02,930 --> 00:35:01,200
long it will last and we don't know what

833
00:35:06,770 --> 00:35:02,940
the environment will be like once it

834
00:35:08,690 --> 00:35:06,780
clears so yeah we are all concerned and

835
00:35:12,170 --> 00:35:08,700
you know you can see it in the team

836
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:12,180
members okay the first question we're

837
00:35:16,190 --> 00:35:13,890
going to take from social media is from

838
00:35:18,109 --> 00:35:16,200
Twitter Kevin asks are there any

839
00:35:20,390 --> 00:35:18,119
concerns that dust will accumulate

840
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:20,400
around the wheels possibly preventing

841
00:35:29,150 --> 00:35:25,999
no again you know the amount of dust in

842
00:35:31,490 --> 00:35:29,160
this storm is will correspond to just a

843
00:35:34,940 --> 00:35:31,500
you know a single layer of dust on the

844
00:35:36,380 --> 00:35:34,950
rover and the terrain around it so we're

845
00:35:38,809 --> 00:35:36,390
not concerned about the mobility

846
00:35:40,579 --> 00:35:38,819
limitations I think our biggest concern

847
00:35:43,910 --> 00:35:40,589
is you know how much power will the

848
00:35:47,539 --> 00:35:43,920
rover produce and whether the dust has

849
00:35:51,349 --> 00:35:47,549
you know put a lot of particles on the

850
00:35:52,940 --> 00:35:51,359
optics of the cameras but we're not

851
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:52,950
concerned about mobility at this point

852
00:35:57,849 --> 00:35:56,130
that this is rich like the opportunity

853
00:36:00,319 --> 00:35:57,859
Rover is on the rim of Endeavour crater

854
00:36:02,390 --> 00:36:00,329
perseverance Valley is that's kind of a

855
00:36:05,150 --> 00:36:02,400
windy area as long as dusters are being

856
00:36:07,009 --> 00:36:05,160
raised locally transported in the wind

857
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:07,019
will actually help clean off the arrays

858
00:36:13,940 --> 00:36:09,450
an opportunity has seen several of those

859
00:36:16,730 --> 00:36:13,950
events in the past the next question for

860
00:36:19,730 --> 00:36:16,740
social media is from David on Facebook

861
00:36:21,230 --> 00:36:19,740
and he's asking if you have an idea how

862
00:36:24,829 --> 00:36:21,240
long the dust particles will be

863
00:36:26,329 --> 00:36:24,839
suspended in the atmosphere well this is

864
00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:26,339
Rachel Erick again that's a good

865
00:36:30,859 --> 00:36:26,910
question

866
00:36:32,809 --> 00:36:30,869
and it's typically how high are they

867
00:36:35,150 --> 00:36:32,819
going to go why will they get locked it

868
00:36:36,799 --> 00:36:35,160
in this big event that's actually

869
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:36,809
changing the global circulation and

870
00:36:43,099 --> 00:36:39,930
taking things may be far outside the

871
00:36:45,650 --> 00:36:43,109
active dust raising area in a global

872
00:36:48,650 --> 00:36:45,660
storm that is the biggest largest storms

873
00:36:50,660 --> 00:36:48,660
that we've seen the desk can be taken up

874
00:36:52,579 --> 00:36:50,670
about 70 kilometres and it takes two or

875
00:36:54,980 --> 00:36:52,589
three months to fallout from those

876
00:36:57,980 --> 00:36:54,990
altitudes so I just kind of think of it

877
00:37:00,710 --> 00:36:57,990
it's kind of like when a cloud goes over

878
00:37:03,319 --> 00:37:00,720
there's a settling out of the materials

879
00:37:05,210 --> 00:37:03,329
and stuff and that of course depends

880
00:37:07,460 --> 00:37:05,220
upon the winds whether it's raised again

881
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:07,470
locally or sites but normally in these

882
00:37:11,990 --> 00:37:10,170
storms there's a long decayed phase of

883
00:37:18,109 --> 00:37:12,000
clearing out at the atmosphere again

884
00:37:19,849 --> 00:37:18,119
taking several weeks to a few months I

885
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:19,859
think I just want to you know state

886
00:37:24,890 --> 00:37:23,250
again having this best storm occur under

887
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:24,900
the visibility of the whole fleet of

888
00:37:30,769 --> 00:37:28,170
orbiters that we have and eventually

889
00:37:32,599 --> 00:37:30,779
here curiosity participating in the

890
00:37:33,980 --> 00:37:32,609
research as well is going to teach us a

891
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:33,990
whole lot about how the

892
00:37:39,230 --> 00:37:36,210
storms behave and what the consistency

893
00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:39,240
of these are this is I not like a Desert

894
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:41,790
Storm that shifts major sand dunes in

895
00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:46,770
the year on earth but this is more like

896
00:37:51,380 --> 00:37:50,070
talcum powder that's lofted into the

897
00:37:53,300 --> 00:37:51,390
atmosphere and eventually gets

898
00:37:56,690 --> 00:37:53,310
distributed across the globe but exactly

899
00:37:59,570 --> 00:37:56,700
how all that behaves as rich alluded to

900
00:38:01,040 --> 00:37:59,580
we understand some of the principles but

901
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:01,050
we need a lot more in a way of

902
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:02,850
observations and this storm is going to

903
00:38:07,490 --> 00:38:06,090
provide us with more answers a lot of

904
00:38:08,930 --> 00:38:07,500
the questions that you're asking here

905
00:38:10,609 --> 00:38:08,940
right now we're kind of giving you

906
00:38:14,450 --> 00:38:10,619
generalities but that's where our state

907
00:38:16,130 --> 00:38:14,460
of knowledge is right now thanks we're

908
00:38:17,540 --> 00:38:16,140
gonna we'll try to get back to some more

909
00:38:20,330 --> 00:38:17,550
social media questions for right now

910
00:38:23,990 --> 00:38:20,340
we're going to go to Leo and right at

911
00:38:26,570 --> 00:38:24,000
Irish television hey Leo thanks thanks

912
00:38:28,550 --> 00:38:26,580
very much Jane for doing this I'm just

913
00:38:31,580 --> 00:38:28,560
wondering about collateral damage to

914
00:38:33,530 --> 00:38:31,590
other missions I mean for instance maven

915
00:38:36,950 --> 00:38:33,540
are there where their plans are are

916
00:38:39,770 --> 00:38:36,960
there plans for a deep dip into the

917
00:38:41,090 --> 00:38:39,780
upper atmosphere at this particular time

918
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:41,100
is that something that would be a

919
00:38:44,060 --> 00:38:41,970
concern

920
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:44,070
I know it's somewhat higher but not all

921
00:38:49,370 --> 00:38:46,290
that much higher than what you're

922
00:38:52,250 --> 00:38:49,380
talking about for the the dust ice and I

923
00:38:55,609 --> 00:38:52,260
also do wonder a little bit about

924
00:38:57,349 --> 00:38:55,619
curiosity is there is there anything on

925
00:38:59,870 --> 00:38:57,359
that Rover that is potentially at risk

926
00:39:04,690 --> 00:38:59,880
from a heavy dust fall are there any

927
00:39:10,700 --> 00:39:08,510
Dave yeah this is Dave Lavery with

928
00:39:12,859 --> 00:39:10,710
regard to the orbiters we don't

929
00:39:14,660 --> 00:39:12,869
anticipate any hazardous effects from

930
00:39:16,550 --> 00:39:14,670
the dust storm they're at a high enough

931
00:39:18,859 --> 00:39:16,560
altitude that they'll be able to orbit

932
00:39:20,990 --> 00:39:18,869
safely above it and conduct observations

933
00:39:24,050 --> 00:39:21,000
all the way through the process and give

934
00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:24,060
us a lot of observational data and it

935
00:39:27,740 --> 00:39:26,130
will inform us quite a bit more about

936
00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:27,750
how these storms actually operating

937
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:29,730
function but but we don't expect any

938
00:39:36,260 --> 00:39:33,810
hazards there as for curiosity we have

939
00:39:39,109 --> 00:39:36,270
noticed already a darkening of the skies

940
00:39:40,550 --> 00:39:39,119
above the curiosity's landing site all

941
00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:40,560
the way on the other side of the planet

942
00:39:47,630 --> 00:39:44,510
from opportunity's locations but because

943
00:39:49,190 --> 00:39:47,640
curiosity is a nuclear-powered Rover

944
00:39:50,630 --> 00:39:49,200
we're not having the same concerns with

945
00:39:52,790 --> 00:39:50,640
regard to the power generation so

946
00:39:55,070 --> 00:39:52,800
there's no issue there the only thing

947
00:39:57,680 --> 00:39:55,080
that realistically could possibly be a

948
00:39:59,390 --> 00:39:57,690
concern would be if the storm goes on

949
00:40:01,190 --> 00:39:59,400
long enough and if there were high

950
00:40:04,370 --> 00:40:01,200
enough wind velocities would there be

951
00:40:06,110 --> 00:40:04,380
any issue associated with dusting to

952
00:40:08,450 --> 00:40:06,120
cause it on the optics we've already

953
00:40:10,010 --> 00:40:08,460
taken a look at that based on past

954
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:10,020
experiences with these farms we don't

955
00:40:13,490 --> 00:40:12,090
expect anything to happen there so the

956
00:40:18,710 --> 00:40:13,500
short version of that answer is

957
00:40:20,450 --> 00:40:18,720
curiosity should be fine okay and I want

958
00:40:22,250 --> 00:40:20,460
to thank all the reporters and people on

959
00:40:24,830 --> 00:40:22,260
social media for being patient we do

960
00:40:26,900 --> 00:40:24,840
have a lot of questions today and we're

961
00:40:29,690 --> 00:40:26,910
going to try to get as many as we

962
00:40:31,910 --> 00:40:29,700
possibly can in before we before our

963
00:40:35,810 --> 00:40:31,920
time is up so the next one will come

964
00:40:37,820 --> 00:40:35,820
from Ken Kramer at space up close hi

965
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:37,830
thank you for doing for doing this I'm

966
00:40:42,740 --> 00:40:41,130
taking my question for Richards Earth I

967
00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:42,750
guess it sounds like you're saying that

968
00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:44,730
the dust storm is still going to get

969
00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:47,570
worse so can you make some projection

970
00:40:53,510 --> 00:40:50,250
even a guess how long that might be

971
00:40:56,030 --> 00:40:53,520
and then for John Kallis are we talking

972
00:40:58,970 --> 00:40:56,040
about the rover being able to survive

973
00:41:04,070 --> 00:40:58,980
then for weeks and months on end at this

974
00:41:07,010 --> 00:41:04,080
at this low power mode thanks okay this

975
00:41:09,020 --> 00:41:07,020
is a rich Derek and in some sense the

976
00:41:10,510 --> 00:41:09,030
storm is not going to get a whole lot

977
00:41:14,060 --> 00:41:10,520
worse at a given site like that

978
00:41:16,580 --> 00:41:14,070
opportunity what is changing is the

979
00:41:18,860 --> 00:41:16,590
storm is producing a dust days that is

980
00:41:22,010 --> 00:41:18,870
spreading over the planet and getting

981
00:41:23,660 --> 00:41:22,020
raised higher into the atmosphere that

982
00:41:27,100 --> 00:41:23,670
can lengthen is we've been talking about

983
00:41:30,710 --> 00:41:27,110
how long it takes for the storm to clear

984
00:41:32,750 --> 00:41:30,720
we're not expecting the opacities over

985
00:41:33,980 --> 00:41:32,760
opportunity to get a lot worse but it

986
00:41:35,660 --> 00:41:33,990
doesn't really matter because there's

987
00:41:38,660 --> 00:41:35,670
almost no sunlight reaching the ground

988
00:41:42,890 --> 00:41:38,670
now anyway except a little bit scattered

989
00:41:45,950 --> 00:41:42,900
in a very dusty sky so that's not going

990
00:41:48,710 --> 00:41:45,960
to change very much how long the storm

991
00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:48,720
will last that we're not certain about

992
00:41:52,820 --> 00:41:50,730
that is one of the issues that we're

993
00:41:54,590 --> 00:41:52,830
trying to understand about it as Jim

994
00:41:57,260 --> 00:41:54,600
Watson said this is one of the things we

995
00:42:00,200 --> 00:41:57,270
want to learn what initiates that

996
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:00,210
so-called decay phase where the dust

997
00:42:05,660 --> 00:42:00,930
areas

998
00:42:08,299 --> 00:42:05,670
stop being active raising dust into the

999
00:42:10,940 --> 00:42:08,309
atmosphere and everything just begins to

1000
00:42:13,790 --> 00:42:10,950
fall out now part of that can be the

1001
00:42:17,089 --> 00:42:13,800
storm itself as I spread dust all around

1002
00:42:18,859 --> 00:42:17,099
in the atmosphere it's sort of I smooths

1003
00:42:20,690 --> 00:42:18,869
out some of the pressure gradients that

1004
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:20,700
drive the winds and such and the winds

1005
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:24,210
will eventually die down and exactly

1006
00:42:27,710 --> 00:42:25,770
when that's going to happen whether it's

1007
00:42:33,170 --> 00:42:27,720
next week or two weeks from now we don't

1008
00:42:34,790 --> 00:42:33,180
know John yeah thanks rich yeah so yeah

1009
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:34,800
this is John Kallis the question about

1010
00:42:40,700 --> 00:42:36,690
how long the rover can go in this

1011
00:42:42,620 --> 00:42:40,710
situation as long as the rover stays

1012
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:42,630
warm enough and our predictions are that

1013
00:42:48,290 --> 00:42:46,170
it will that we can go you know any

1014
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:48,300
number of days you know we are

1015
00:42:53,150 --> 00:42:49,890
approaching summer so we haven't even

1016
00:42:56,390 --> 00:42:53,160
hit the warmest part of the year for the

1017
00:42:59,660 --> 00:42:56,400
rover at this site and in terms of this

1018
00:43:01,910 --> 00:42:59,670
low power mode that we're in the rover

1019
00:43:04,099 --> 00:43:01,920
actually goes into that every single day

1020
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:04,109
we have a process we which we called

1021
00:43:08,900 --> 00:43:06,450
deep sleep in which once we're done with

1022
00:43:11,089 --> 00:43:08,910
activities on the day we disconnect the

1023
00:43:13,730 --> 00:43:11,099
batteries from the rover and only the

1024
00:43:16,490 --> 00:43:13,740
mission clock is connected and so we've

1025
00:43:19,220 --> 00:43:16,500
been deep sleeping now for thousands of

1026
00:43:20,930 --> 00:43:19,230
Sol's and so this is just like deep

1027
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:20,940
sleeping except we're doing it

1028
00:43:26,809 --> 00:43:22,770
throughout the entire day not just at

1029
00:43:31,010 --> 00:43:26,819
night next we're going to space news and

1030
00:43:32,510 --> 00:43:31,020
Jeff's out the call I've heard a lot of

1031
00:43:33,950 --> 00:43:32,520
discussion about this storm being

1032
00:43:36,349 --> 00:43:33,960
unprecedented I wonder if there's any

1033
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:36,359
way to quantify the intensity of the

1034
00:43:40,549 --> 00:43:38,490
storm and compare it to some past global

1035
00:43:40,970 --> 00:43:40,559
dust storms that had been observed on

1036
00:43:44,030 --> 00:43:40,980
Mars

1037
00:43:46,190 --> 00:43:44,040
thanks well there are a couple of

1038
00:43:49,730 --> 00:43:46,200
metrics that we use one of them is just

1039
00:43:51,530 --> 00:43:49,740
how much of the planet does it cover if

1040
00:43:55,130 --> 00:43:51,540
you will the most global of those storms

1041
00:43:57,020 --> 00:43:55,140
occurred back in 1971 when Mariner 9 was

1042
00:43:58,609 --> 00:43:57,030
approaching March to go into orbit be

1043
00:44:01,220 --> 00:43:58,619
the first spacecraft going a little bit

1044
00:44:03,170 --> 00:44:01,230
around another planet and the entire

1045
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:03,180
surface except for a little bit up

1046
00:44:08,809 --> 00:44:06,410
around the poles was obscured in fact

1047
00:44:10,789 --> 00:44:08,819
they noted that they were seeing things

1048
00:44:13,339 --> 00:44:10,799
that they call North spot middle spot

1049
00:44:14,570 --> 00:44:13,349
south spot and those were the summits of

1050
00:44:16,580 --> 00:44:14,580
the Tharsis volcano

1051
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:16,590
which stands some 20 kilometers above

1052
00:44:21,890 --> 00:44:18,930
the surrounding claims so that was a

1053
00:44:25,130 --> 00:44:21,900
very massive storm this has not reached

1054
00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:25,140
that it has not spread over that large

1055
00:44:30,350 --> 00:44:28,530
an area however there are some areas as

1056
00:44:33,830 --> 00:44:30,360
we've seen over opportunity that are

1057
00:44:36,770 --> 00:44:33,840
incredibly dense and that's interesting

1058
00:44:39,470 --> 00:44:36,780
in itself the other aspects of the storm

1059
00:44:42,050 --> 00:44:39,480
are is that it didn't seem to raise dust

1060
00:44:44,930 --> 00:44:42,060
into the upper atmosphere higher into

1061
00:44:46,670 --> 00:44:44,940
the atmosphere it was more slow than

1062
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:46,680
that has happened in previous storms

1063
00:44:52,460 --> 00:44:49,850
another aspect is is that although these

1064
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:52,470
storms tend to go big during southern

1065
00:44:58,850 --> 00:44:55,530
spring and summer it's just barely into

1066
00:45:01,210 --> 00:44:58,860
southern spring and this is the earliest

1067
00:45:04,220 --> 00:45:01,220
except for the 2001 storm

1068
00:45:06,740 --> 00:45:04,230
however this storm pretty much spread in

1069
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:06,750
the northern tropics where as that storm

1070
00:45:11,090 --> 00:45:08,970
went into the southern hemisphere and

1071
00:45:13,610 --> 00:45:11,100
that's where it encircled the planet

1072
00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:13,620
eventually so it's those kinds of

1073
00:45:19,910 --> 00:45:17,250
features its extent it's the opacity of

1074
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:19,920
the most active areas of dust raising

1075
00:45:26,030 --> 00:45:23,490
and it's how high material gets lopped

1076
00:45:27,950 --> 00:45:26,040
around the planet and of course what

1077
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:27,960
we'd really like to understand is what

1078
00:45:32,990 --> 00:45:30,330
are the triggers that say this is going

1079
00:45:35,900 --> 00:45:33,000
to happen at this time in the season or

1080
00:45:39,050 --> 00:45:35,910
even in this year as opposed to some

1081
00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:39,060
other year rich this is John cows let me

1082
00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:41,490
just add from the rover's perspective

1083
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:44,730
the 2007 storm it actually took several

1084
00:45:49,490 --> 00:45:47,130
weeks for the atmospheric opacity to

1085
00:45:51,980 --> 00:45:49,500
build up to somewhere around five point

1086
00:45:54,560 --> 00:45:51,990
five this storm for us where we're

1087
00:45:56,810 --> 00:45:54,570
located on Mars took just a few days to

1088
00:45:59,780 --> 00:45:56,820
go to opacity of you know greater than

1089
00:46:02,120 --> 00:45:59,790
ten so this one had an onset for

1090
00:46:04,100 --> 00:46:02,130
opportunity that was an order of

1091
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:04,110
magnitude faster and more intense than

1092
00:46:11,090 --> 00:46:05,610
2007 storm

1093
00:46:12,950 --> 00:46:11,100
more like what curiosity is seeing where

1094
00:46:15,260 --> 00:46:12,960
it's taken several days for the opacity

1095
00:46:17,630 --> 00:46:15,270
and to start to build up about the sign

1096
00:46:20,630 --> 00:46:17,640
and again part of that is is because

1097
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:20,640
this time around the local storm that

1098
00:46:25,670 --> 00:46:23,490
served as the original core of the event

1099
00:46:28,410 --> 00:46:25,680
kind of parked right over the

1100
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:28,420
opportunity sign

1101
00:46:34,630 --> 00:46:31,490
our next question is from science news

1102
00:46:36,190 --> 00:46:34,640
Lisa Grossman Lisa hi thanks for taking

1103
00:46:37,540 --> 00:46:36,200
my question I was wondering if you could

1104
00:46:39,099 --> 00:46:37,550
tell us a little bit more about the

1105
00:46:43,180 --> 00:46:39,109
specific data you'll be collecting to

1106
00:46:43,839 --> 00:46:43,190
study how the storm work this is Rachel

1107
00:46:49,690 --> 00:46:43,849
Eric again

1108
00:46:53,050 --> 00:46:49,700
so we had the graphic suruc three that

1109
00:46:54,940 --> 00:46:53,060
showed the fleet of spacecraft so what

1110
00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:54,950
we're doing is well what opportunity is

1111
00:47:00,250 --> 00:46:56,810
already done which is take a look at the

1112
00:47:03,490 --> 00:47:00,260
opacity of these of the atmosphere

1113
00:47:04,900 --> 00:47:03,500
itself we've also got looking at the

1114
00:47:07,450 --> 00:47:04,910
spread of the storm with our weather

1115
00:47:10,030 --> 00:47:07,460
cameras and such and we're looking at

1116
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:10,040
that both in the visible images that

1117
00:47:14,410 --> 00:47:12,170
you've seen here but also in the

1118
00:47:16,300 --> 00:47:14,420
infrared because that tells us something

1119
00:47:18,849 --> 00:47:16,310
about the particle size and the

1120
00:47:21,460 --> 00:47:18,859
composition of the material that's in

1121
00:47:23,829 --> 00:47:21,470
the dust we're also looking at how the

1122
00:47:26,740 --> 00:47:23,839
atmosphere is affected by looking at the

1123
00:47:29,020 --> 00:47:26,750
temperatures and such we don't have many

1124
00:47:31,630 --> 00:47:29,030
Wynne direct wind measurements we do

1125
00:47:34,150 --> 00:47:31,640
very high in the atmosphere in another

1126
00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:34,160
aspect of what we look at is how does it

1127
00:47:38,260 --> 00:47:36,530
affect the upper atmosphere were may

1128
00:47:40,030 --> 00:47:38,270
even is dipping down to about a hundred

1129
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:40,040
and sixty kilometers about a hundred

1130
00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:43,730
miles up they're safe they're able to do

1131
00:47:48,460 --> 00:47:46,130
that but it's very interesting to see

1132
00:47:50,680 --> 00:47:48,470
the response of the upper atmosphere to

1133
00:47:52,530 --> 00:47:50,690
the lower atmosphere and we can fold

1134
00:47:57,060 --> 00:47:52,540
that into future missions that may

1135
00:47:59,410 --> 00:47:57,070
aerobrake or aerocapture in the future

1136
00:48:02,650 --> 00:47:59,420
and our next question is from Jackie

1137
00:48:04,740 --> 00:48:02,660
daughters at The Times of London hello

1138
00:48:07,210 --> 00:48:04,750
thank you what would be the possible

1139
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:07,220
implications of a storm like this for a

1140
00:48:11,829 --> 00:48:10,250
potential human settlement on Mars what

1141
00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:11,839
are some of those questions or answers

1142
00:48:16,150 --> 00:48:13,730
that you can take away from this to

1143
00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:16,160
possibly need to adapt potential future

1144
00:48:23,740 --> 00:48:20,210
manned missions this is Jim Watson at

1145
00:48:25,180 --> 00:48:23,750
headquarters I think the big takeaway

1146
00:48:28,270 --> 00:48:25,190
here is that we really need to

1147
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:28,280
understand these storms to the degree

1148
00:48:32,700 --> 00:48:30,170
that we can have some level of

1149
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:32,710
forecasting capabilities so clearly

1150
00:48:37,900 --> 00:48:35,450
operations outside the shelter for human

1151
00:48:40,450 --> 00:48:37,910
exploration would clearly have some

1152
00:48:41,230 --> 00:48:40,460
constraints on them we would not want to

1153
00:48:44,109 --> 00:48:41,240
have

1154
00:48:46,090 --> 00:48:44,119
Kru if you will operating remotely from

1155
00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:46,100
their base and be caught off guard with

1156
00:48:50,260 --> 00:48:47,930
a storm like this and have difficulty

1157
00:48:52,330 --> 00:48:50,270
getting back home and things like that

1158
00:48:54,670 --> 00:48:52,340
that you can imagine so I think the

1159
00:48:57,310 --> 00:48:54,680
primary thing the takeaway from this is

1160
00:48:59,770 --> 00:48:57,320
in order to support humans safely just

1161
00:49:01,990 --> 00:48:59,780
as you do with difficult operations here

1162
00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:02,000
on earth is you need to be able to have

1163
00:49:05,410 --> 00:49:03,890
an understanding in the circumstances in

1164
00:49:07,030 --> 00:49:05,420
which they're going to work and being

1165
00:49:08,830 --> 00:49:07,040
able to forecast the weather and

1166
00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:08,840
environmental conditions just one of the

1167
00:49:12,670 --> 00:49:10,490
most fundamental things that we want to

1168
00:49:15,730 --> 00:49:12,680
be able to support the crew Sweatt thank

1169
00:49:18,190 --> 00:49:15,740
you thank you and we're going to take a

1170
00:49:19,750 --> 00:49:18,200
question from Emily lakhta Walla with a

1171
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:19,760
planetary report and then we'll get a

1172
00:49:25,090 --> 00:49:21,290
couple from social media

1173
00:49:27,310 --> 00:49:25,100
Emily go ahead hi thank you

1174
00:49:29,470 --> 00:49:27,320
I'm wondering I know that Jim Shirley

1175
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:29,480
predicted a global dust storm for last

1176
00:49:33,250 --> 00:49:31,010
year and then for this year I'm

1177
00:49:35,140 --> 00:49:33,260
wondering how much advance planning went

1178
00:49:37,450 --> 00:49:35,150
into the coordinated observations that

1179
00:49:39,609 --> 00:49:37,460
you're doing and if it changed any of

1180
00:49:43,510 --> 00:49:39,619
the way you were operating opportunity

1181
00:49:46,510 --> 00:49:43,520
even before the storm started well let

1182
00:49:48,220 --> 00:49:46,520
me take the question about opportunity

1183
00:49:53,260 --> 00:49:48,230
then I think there's a further question

1184
00:49:57,940 --> 00:49:53,270
for rich later we didn't do have to make

1185
00:49:59,530 --> 00:49:57,950
any changes so we had very good dust

1186
00:50:01,420 --> 00:49:59,540
factor which is the amount of dust on

1187
00:50:04,030 --> 00:50:01,430
the solar array so our energy production

1188
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:04,040
was excellent going into this period of

1189
00:50:09,130 --> 00:50:07,130
time we already had taken steps to

1190
00:50:11,349 --> 00:50:09,140
maximize energy production anyways just

1191
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:11,359
so we can do this much science as

1192
00:50:18,099 --> 00:50:15,410
possible so there were no real measures

1193
00:50:22,450 --> 00:50:18,109
to take and in hindsight there wasn't

1194
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:22,460
really anything we could do to set us up

1195
00:50:27,910 --> 00:50:24,050
any better than we are going into the

1196
00:50:29,950 --> 00:50:27,920
storm and we've sort of been expecting

1197
00:50:31,710 --> 00:50:29,960
to have one of these storms if you

1198
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:31,720
looked at the historical record

1199
00:50:37,510 --> 00:50:34,130
telescopic observations and early

1200
00:50:40,540 --> 00:50:37,520
spacecraft observations you would expect

1201
00:50:42,700 --> 00:50:40,550
maybe a period in those terms of about

1202
00:50:45,460 --> 00:50:42,710
three to four years based on that record

1203
00:50:49,930 --> 00:50:45,470
well we're five Mars years away from

1204
00:50:52,390 --> 00:50:49,940
that and so we've been trying to be

1205
00:50:54,220 --> 00:50:52,400
prepared for this storm we've defined

1206
00:50:55,060 --> 00:50:54,230
observation sequences that we had

1207
00:50:57,910 --> 00:50:55,070
implemented

1208
00:51:01,120 --> 00:50:57,920
the dust got high in the atmosphere for

1209
00:51:03,340 --> 00:51:01,130
instance and a lot of it is is just to

1210
00:51:05,890 --> 00:51:03,350
continue the standard monitoring of the

1211
00:51:08,140 --> 00:51:05,900
planet because that's what enables us to

1212
00:51:10,510 --> 00:51:08,150
catch those early stages which we're

1213
00:51:13,450 --> 00:51:10,520
really interested in yes there have been

1214
00:51:15,430 --> 00:51:13,460
a number of hypotheses put forward for

1215
00:51:18,940 --> 00:51:15,440
white dust storms occur in some years

1216
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:18,950
and not others the problem is we're

1217
00:51:23,350 --> 00:51:21,290
dealing with a small number of events

1218
00:51:26,020 --> 00:51:23,360
and it's difficult to correlate that

1219
00:51:28,510 --> 00:51:26,030
well we have one more event in that

1220
00:51:30,130 --> 00:51:28,520
family now and that may help us

1221
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:30,140
illuminate and test some of these

1222
00:51:35,110 --> 00:51:33,770
hypotheses okay we're gonna go to social

1223
00:51:38,410 --> 00:51:35,120
and then we'll hop back for the

1224
00:51:41,200 --> 00:51:38,420
remaining reporter questions we've got

1225
00:51:43,390 --> 00:51:41,210
one from Twitter Chris is asking has it

1226
00:51:45,700 --> 00:51:43,400
been considered for future missions to

1227
00:51:49,900 --> 00:51:45,710
have a method for the rover to clean the

1228
00:51:51,940 --> 00:51:49,910
panel's oh well this is John Kallis I'll

1229
00:51:56,860 --> 00:51:51,950
I'll address that that's a question that

1230
00:51:59,200 --> 00:51:56,870
we get a lot and that was considered at

1231
00:52:01,270 --> 00:51:59,210
the time that we were developing the MIR

1232
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:01,280
rovers but again we were and we were

1233
00:52:06,250 --> 00:52:04,730
planning for a 90-day mission some of

1234
00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:06,260
the challenges that you have with that

1235
00:52:10,750 --> 00:52:08,930
is that suddenly you have a another

1236
00:52:11,890 --> 00:52:10,760
mechanism that's mission-critical you

1237
00:52:14,020 --> 00:52:11,900
know whether it's you know windshield

1238
00:52:16,300 --> 00:52:14,030
wipers or vibrators or a tilt table

1239
00:52:17,770 --> 00:52:16,310
solar array and so you have to account

1240
00:52:20,170 --> 00:52:17,780
for the possibilities well what if those

1241
00:52:21,910 --> 00:52:20,180
break and so for us the simplest

1242
00:52:24,790 --> 00:52:21,920
solution was just make the solar arrays

1243
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:24,800
bigger and that's what we did for M er

1244
00:52:29,860 --> 00:52:27,530
future missions I know do this analysis

1245
00:52:32,170 --> 00:52:29,870
as well and give consideration to what

1246
00:52:35,140 --> 00:52:32,180
review the right approach but you know

1247
00:52:36,910 --> 00:52:35,150
so far the the design we have has has

1248
00:52:41,410 --> 00:52:36,920
worked really well for 14 and a half

1249
00:52:43,630 --> 00:52:41,420
years from headquarters let me just add

1250
00:52:46,390 --> 00:52:43,640
to that the the Rovers have been

1251
00:52:50,020 --> 00:52:46,400
machines of discovery landed on the

1252
00:52:51,730 --> 00:52:50,030
surface and set free to explore as long

1253
00:52:54,310 --> 00:52:51,740
as they can last and we can support

1254
00:52:56,110 --> 00:52:54,320
their operations as we go into the

1255
00:52:58,930 --> 00:52:56,120
future with more specific and targeted

1256
00:53:01,840 --> 00:52:58,940
missions one other consideration is when

1257
00:53:03,250 --> 00:53:01,850
we operate the mission as rich mentioned

1258
00:53:06,670 --> 00:53:03,260
there is some degree of predictability

1259
00:53:08,290 --> 00:53:06,680
there is a dust storm season and so one

1260
00:53:09,940 --> 00:53:08,300
tool that the engineers have in

1261
00:53:12,100 --> 00:53:09,950
planning the mission operations is to

1262
00:53:14,290 --> 00:53:12,110
plan the critical operations at that

1263
00:53:18,370 --> 00:53:14,300
time of the year whether or not a high

1264
00:53:20,260 --> 00:53:18,380
likelihood of a storm to occur one more

1265
00:53:22,630 --> 00:53:20,270
question from social nimesh command

1266
00:53:24,610 --> 00:53:22,640
danke on YouTube asks are the particles

1267
00:53:31,780 --> 00:53:24,620
in the Martian Deathstorm heavier than

1268
00:53:34,810 --> 00:53:31,790
those on earth yes interesting question

1269
00:53:36,910 --> 00:53:34,820
I would say no the density of the

1270
00:53:38,590 --> 00:53:36,920
particles are about the same and such so

1271
00:53:42,070 --> 00:53:38,600
if you weighed him on a scale they would

1272
00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:42,080
be much like dust on the earth there may

1273
00:53:47,860 --> 00:53:44,450
be differences in particle size from

1274
00:53:49,720 --> 00:53:47,870
because not all dust is the same it

1275
00:53:52,570 --> 00:53:49,730
generated in different sources on the

1276
00:53:57,130 --> 00:53:52,580
planet but by and large you'd recognize

1277
00:53:59,920 --> 00:53:57,140
it as dust okay and the next question

1278
00:54:06,100 --> 00:53:59,930
comes from Jason Ryan who's with Space

1279
00:54:09,940 --> 00:54:06,110
Flight Insider I guess thanks for taking

1280
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:09,950
my question today real quick I noticed

1281
00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:12,010
that there it states that the

1282
00:54:17,080 --> 00:54:14,450
opportunity's batteries had to look if

1283
00:54:18,550 --> 00:54:17,090
they dip below 24 volts at that

1284
00:54:20,560 --> 00:54:18,560
threshold the rover's designed to turn

1285
00:54:23,170 --> 00:54:20,570
off all subsystems except for the

1286
00:54:26,410 --> 00:54:23,180
mission clock does this include the

1287
00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:26,420
vehicles in electronics heaters oh and

1288
00:54:34,540 --> 00:54:31,450
yes it this is John Kallis yes it does

1289
00:54:36,490 --> 00:54:34,550
we actually turn off all the electronics

1290
00:54:38,350 --> 00:54:36,500
every day on the rover and we allow for

1291
00:54:40,540 --> 00:54:38,360
the thermal inertia of the electronics

1292
00:54:42,910 --> 00:54:40,550
to stay warm enough until the next

1293
00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:42,920
morning when we power things back up so

1294
00:54:48,070 --> 00:54:45,770
right now everything is turned off on

1295
00:54:50,020 --> 00:54:48,080
the vehicle and we are in the

1296
00:54:53,470 --> 00:54:50,030
temperatures and determined solely by

1297
00:54:57,310 --> 00:54:53,480
the environment and those 8rh shoes that

1298
00:55:00,670 --> 00:54:57,320
are inside the rover okay the next

1299
00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:00,680
question is from Tony rice WRAL TV in

1300
00:55:06,490 --> 00:55:03,770
Raleigh North Carolina thanks for taking

1301
00:55:08,620 --> 00:55:06,500
my question so the word dust storm

1302
00:55:10,420 --> 00:55:08,630
creates a certain visual and imagine

1303
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:10,430
many are probably envisioning what was

1304
00:55:13,780 --> 00:55:11,810
portrayed in the first couple of scenes

1305
00:55:15,670 --> 00:55:13,790
of the Martian could somebody describe

1306
00:55:17,470 --> 00:55:15,680
the current environment opportunities in

1307
00:55:20,450 --> 00:55:17,480
particularly the winds that are being

1308
00:55:25,130 --> 00:55:23,089
to raise dust off the Mars surface you

1309
00:55:27,530 --> 00:55:25,140
need wind speeds we think of about 30

1310
00:55:31,099 --> 00:55:27,540
meters per second that's I around 70

1311
00:55:32,990 --> 00:55:31,109
miles per hour and such I you know this

1312
00:55:34,220 --> 00:55:33,000
atmosphere is very thin though it's only

1313
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:34,230
about a percent of the Earth's

1314
00:55:36,980 --> 00:55:35,010
atmosphere

1315
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:36,990
you're not going to blow spacecraft over

1316
00:55:42,710 --> 00:55:40,170
with it even though you're able to raise

1317
00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:42,720
dust off the surface no wait we think

1318
00:55:47,150 --> 00:55:44,490
that happens actually is you take

1319
00:55:49,430 --> 00:55:47,160
somewhat larger particles that sort of

1320
00:55:54,890 --> 00:55:49,440
sandblast across and dislodge the finer

1321
00:55:57,920 --> 00:55:54,900
particles into the environment it looks

1322
00:55:59,690 --> 00:55:57,930
like you can look at the images of the

1323
00:56:01,790 --> 00:55:59,700
storm and such and you can see a sort of

1324
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:01,800
modeling what we'd call convective

1325
00:56:06,170 --> 00:56:04,410
activity and such so it looks like that

1326
00:56:08,060 --> 00:56:06,180
there is still dust being raised in the

1327
00:56:11,030 --> 00:56:08,070
vicinity although it might not be

1328
00:56:13,970 --> 00:56:11,040
exactly at the rotor side itself and

1329
00:56:17,230 --> 00:56:13,980
some of that's falling out some of it is

1330
00:56:20,570 --> 00:56:17,240
getting suspended again the temperatures

1331
00:56:22,010 --> 00:56:20,580
when you have such a thick dust haze the

1332
00:56:24,260 --> 00:56:22,020
nighttime temperatures are actually

1333
00:56:26,570 --> 00:56:24,270
warmer and that's helping out

1334
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:26,580
opportunity and it's sort of a

1335
00:56:30,589 --> 00:56:28,530
greenhouse effect in which the radiation

1336
00:56:33,380 --> 00:56:30,599
that otherwise would be lost to space is

1337
00:56:36,200 --> 00:56:33,390
trapped by this haze and radiated back

1338
00:56:38,570 --> 00:56:36,210
to the surface during the day the air

1339
00:56:42,560 --> 00:56:38,580
temperatures near the surface are lower

1340
00:56:44,900 --> 00:56:42,570
because much of the sunlight has been

1341
00:56:47,690 --> 00:56:44,910
absorbed by the dust cloud above your

1342
00:56:50,410 --> 00:56:47,700
surface so there's probably still some

1343
00:56:52,849 --> 00:56:50,420
winds in the vicinity of opportunity

1344
00:56:55,250 --> 00:56:52,859
many of the other areas the surface

1345
00:56:56,630 --> 00:56:55,260
winds may not be very strong but the

1346
00:56:58,550 --> 00:56:56,640
winds are typically stronger and

1347
00:57:01,790 --> 00:56:58,560
altitude and that's what's spreading the

1348
00:57:04,370 --> 00:57:01,800
dust haze around the planet we're gonna

1349
00:57:07,250 --> 00:57:04,380
take one really quick question and then

1350
00:57:09,290 --> 00:57:07,260
we're gonna wrap up a hopefully Sally

1351
00:57:10,220 --> 00:57:09,300
rail Planetary Society I hope you have a

1352
00:57:14,480 --> 00:57:10,230
quick question

1353
00:57:16,070 --> 00:57:14,490
I do do actually can you hear me yes we

1354
00:57:20,599 --> 00:57:16,080
can hear you fine okay great thank you

1355
00:57:22,820 --> 00:57:20,609
um is the storm still parsed or stalled

1356
00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:22,830
over endeavour and I just wanted to

1357
00:57:28,550 --> 00:57:25,530
confirm this the estimate is while the

1358
00:57:32,660 --> 00:57:28,560
is about two days for the storm to

1359
00:57:36,590 --> 00:57:32,670
become planet and circling thank you

1360
00:57:38,780 --> 00:57:36,600
at this rich Larrick yes we're expecting

1361
00:57:40,970 --> 00:57:38,790
if you look at the images again you

1362
00:57:43,550 --> 00:57:40,980
notice that in the northern latitudes

1363
00:57:45,470 --> 00:57:43,560
it's just about wrapped around except

1364
00:57:48,350 --> 00:57:45,480
for a small part of the planet above

1365
00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:48,360
parses the southern area it looks very

1366
00:57:54,080 --> 00:57:51,210
active as well and we expect that at the

1367
00:57:58,190 --> 00:57:54,090
speeds the dust haze is expanding that

1368
00:58:02,230 --> 00:57:58,200
it will wrap around the planet in three

1369
00:58:05,120 --> 00:58:02,240
or two or three days something like that

1370
00:58:08,390 --> 00:58:05,130
let's see what was the other part of

1371
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:08,400
your question is the storm still stalled

1372
00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:11,610
or parked over endeavor crater well

1373
00:58:16,460 --> 00:58:13,290
there's still an active just raising

1374
00:58:18,470 --> 00:58:16,470
region over it the storm is now expanded

1375
00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:18,480
so that there are many other dust

1376
00:58:24,490 --> 00:58:21,090
raising areas across the planet and

1377
00:58:26,990 --> 00:58:24,500
together those are contributing to this

1378
00:58:31,730 --> 00:58:27,000
almost planet and circling death days

1379
00:58:35,020 --> 00:58:31,740
now alright thanks Sally and thank you

1380
00:58:37,580 --> 00:58:35,030
to all of our panelists and to all the

1381
00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:37,590
reporters and to the post on social

1382
00:58:44,060 --> 00:58:40,490
media who has some excellent questions

1383
00:58:46,280 --> 00:58:44,070
we do have a replay that will be

1384
00:58:49,370 --> 00:58:46,290
available it's generally up about an

1385
00:58:50,960 --> 00:58:49,380
hour after the telecon ends give you a

1386
00:58:54,410 --> 00:58:50,970
couple of phone numbers that's eight

1387
00:58:57,260 --> 00:58:54,420
eight eight five six two four nine one

1388
00:59:01,280 --> 00:58:57,270
three the International line is four

1389
00:59:05,450 --> 00:59:01,290
zero two five three zero seven six seven

1390
00:59:09,380 --> 00:59:05,460
zero and the passcode is for eight nine

1391
00:59:12,170 --> 00:59:09,390
five four one I think we'll try to put

1392
00:59:14,630 --> 00:59:12,180
those numbers up on the other website

1393
00:59:16,340 --> 00:59:14,640
that you're viewing today and speaking

1394
00:59:20,260 --> 00:59:16,350
of websites if you do want more

1395
00:59:22,580 --> 00:59:20,270
information you can go to Lars nasa.gov

1396
00:59:25,250 --> 00:59:22,590
there is a lot of information there

1397
00:59:28,460 --> 00:59:25,260
including a new section is visible under

1398
00:59:30,980 --> 00:59:28,470
the front page called large storm watch

1399
00:59:33,260 --> 00:59:30,990
it's all about the this dust storm and

1400
00:59:34,570 --> 00:59:33,270
dust storms in general and if you want

1401
00:59:39,650 --> 00:59:34,580
to get there directly that's Mars

1402
00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:39,660
nasa.gov slash weather and I could just

1403
00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:43,410
make one comment in conclusion this is

1404
00:59:46,309 --> 00:59:45,450
Jim and headquarters just up a wonderful

1405
00:59:48,769 --> 00:59:46,319
has been

1406
00:59:52,039 --> 00:59:48,779
this telecom and how remarkable the

1407
00:59:53,599 --> 00:59:52,049
conversation has been keep in mind we're

1408
00:59:56,029 --> 00:59:53,609
talking about a rover that's been

1409
00:59:57,079 --> 00:59:56,039
working at Mars hanging in there for 15

1410
00:59:59,719 --> 00:59:57,089
years

1411
01:00:01,670 --> 00:59:59,729
when designed just for 90 days it just

1412
01:00:04,699 --> 01:00:01,680
doesn't get any better than that thank

1413
01:00:05,930 --> 01:00:04,709
you for your time thanks Jim that was a

1414
01:00:08,180 --> 01:00:05,940
perfect wrap-up

1415
01:00:12,559 --> 01:00:08,190
all right thanks again everybody and

1416
01:00:14,209 --> 01:00:12,569
have a great day thank you for joining

1417
01:00:16,279 --> 01:00:14,219
today's conference that does conclude