A Dusty Martian Opportunity

Mars is a planet wide desert with underground and polar cap water, but it’s general arid environment and occasional wind give rise to dusty weather events such as tornado-like dust devils and local dust storms.  Every so often, one of these little dust storms expands and becomes a planet wide phenomena, and in early June this is exactly what happened. So what does it mean for our rovers and orbiters? Global dust storms are a recurring phenomenon on Mars, and happen regularly about the planet regardless of season.  Every 3-4 Martian years (6-8 Earth years) one of these smaller storms...

‘The Martian’ Review and Science (SPOILERS)

I went to the movies last night to see ‘The Martian,’ something I have been excited about for a long time.  The theatre was packed, and the movie was amazing, both unsurprising facts.  I had very few scientific issues with the film, even with low standards for a big screen pic, but mostly due to first thing the screen showed: ‘NASA was heavily consulted to ensure the science in this movie is accurate.’ Way to go Hollywood! My favourite parts of the movie employed some hilarious use of technical definitions.  For example, when Mark Watney grows potatoes on Mars, he says...