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Originally posted by LadyV
"Something" is cleaning the mud off of the rover!?
Originally posted by thecry
Just out of curiousity, which rover is the one in the crator?Wouldn't wind clean off both rovers? unless the one in the crater is protected from the wind.
Originally posted by thecry
Just out of curiousity, which rover is the one in the crator?Wouldn't wind clean off both rovers? unless the one in the crater is protected from the wind.
But the mystery of why only Opportunity has been cleaned remains. The answer might lie in the nature of the two rovers' missions. Spirit has been prospecting in an area called Columbia Hills, while Opportunity has been exploring the wall of Endurance crater
Originally posted by thelibra
Well considering that the gravity of Mars is less than that of Earth, and there isn't enough moisture in the air to make the dust cake onto the rover, dust is attracted to electrical charges, and there is proficient wind on Mars, my theory is this:
At night, the rover shuts down, the electrical charge on the metal disperses, no longer pulling dust to it. The wind, which is there all along, blows the dust off the rover much more easily than it would on Earth because of the lighter weight, and the lack of moisture.
Seems pretty cut-and-dry to me.