Waiting for Martian Dust Devils | NASA MRO

Waiting for Martian Dust Devils | NASA MRO

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured some stunning images of dust devils in action using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument, but the overall sample remains fairly limited. Dust devils are whirlwinds that pick up the light colored dust on the surface as they move around in odd patterns. The lines visible on the dunes are the dark sand left behind when the surface layer of dust has been removed. 

Note: Enhanced color images are 1 km across.

Malin Space Science Systems built the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) and Context Camera (CTX) systems for MRO.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Narration: Tre Gibbs

Duration: 1 minute, 14 seconds

Release Date: June 18, 2014

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