Dark Skies over Opportunity (3) - Sol 1225

"While this only represents enough dust to coat the planet to about the thickness of a human hair, it is enough to decrease the brightness of the noon sun by 96% compared to a completely clear atmosphere", said Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
"Of course, the solar arrays also receive light that is scattered from the dust, so the decrease in power is not nearly that great".

"We have not seen dust measurements this high on either rover before. If the dust levels were to increase further and stay elevated for several days, there is a risk to how well Opportunity could continue to work in this darkened environment", said Callas".