Upcoming: Mars Dust Storm News
Wednesday, June 13 at 10:30 a.m. PT (1:30 p.m. ET, 1730 UTC)
NASA will host a media teleconference to discuss a massive Martian dust storm affecting operations of the agency’s Opportunity rover and what scientists can learn from the various missions studying this unprecedented event.
The storm is one of the most intense ever observed on the Red Planet. As of June 10, it covered more than 15.8 million square miles (41 million square kilometers) -- about the area of North America and Russia combined. It has blocked out so much sunlight, it has effectively turned day into night for Opportunity, which is located near the center of the storm, inside Mars' Perseverance Valley.
Participants in the teleconference will include:
John Callas, Opportunity project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Rich Zurek, Mars Program Office chief scientist at JPL
Jim Watzin, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington
Dave Lavery, program executive at NASA Headquarters for the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers
The public can send questions on social media by using #askNASA.
For information about all of NASA's Mars missions, visit https://mars.nasa.gov
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory invites you to watch live about everything from Mars rovers to monitoring asteroids to cool cosmic discoveries. From the lab to the lecture hall, get information directly from scientists and engineers working on NASA's latest missions. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov