On November 14th, 1971, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration's #Mariner9 became the first spacecraft to successfully orbit another planet. However, #Mars was reluctant to give up her secrets. What became known as 'The Great Martian Storm of '71' blanketed the planet's surface to zero visibility. It wasn't until early January 1972 that the storm subsided, allowing for the mapping of the Martian surface with resolutions ranging from 1 kilometer per pixel to as good at 100 meters per pixel in over 3,700 images received from our first robotic emissary in orbit around Planet Mars. Since '71, spacecraft have recorded numerous dust storms on Mars, with the Mars Global Surveyor witnessing a planet-enshrouding event in 2001 comparable to 'The Great' one. What we've gathered from decades of Martian surveys in orbit, through landers, and from rovers have been a trove of data showing that although the dust reflects most of the sunlight hitting Mars during the day and cooling the surface, those particles also absorb radiation, re-emitting it as infrared (heat) at night. So, while the surface chills under the blanket of dust, the atmosphere heats up by as much as 30 degrees Celsius, providing a clue as to how these regional storms turn into hemispheric-wide events; a warmer atmosphere can drive stronger winds which lift more dust off the surface, just as it does here on Earth. What all of this data supports are swells which have happened in 1971, 1977, 1982, 1994, 2001, and 2007, with the next storm season projected to begin this summer (2018) and last into early 2019. Now, with multiple spacecraft orbiting Mars along with landers/rovers recording data from the surface (with highly more advanced equipment on board since even 2007), planetary scientists are all abuzz about the next big one. Published this week based on observations from the NASA/JPL Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) during the 2007 global dust storm, suggest these storms play a more significant role in shaping Mars' past, present, and future than previously thought; gas escaping from Mars' atmosphere in this way transformed the wetter, warmer ancient Mars into today's arid and frozen planet.
