09/10/2022
The beige clouds seen in this flat global map of Mars are a continent-size dust storm captured on Sept. 29, 2022 by the Mars Climate Imager (MARCI) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). As MRO passes over the planet, MARCI takes linear images – essentially strips – of the planet’s circumference each day. The images are then stitched together to create a daily global map of the planet, showing atmospheric features across the planet as seen at the same time of day (mid-afternoon).
The regional dust storm in this map was first observed Sept. 21. By the time these images were taken (Sept. 29), it had expanded considerably. Within the following week, the storm appeared to have entered its decay phase, when it’s no longer lifting dust into the atmosphere.
Perseverance, Curiosity, and InSight missions are also labeled, showing the vast distances between them. news
