NASA Mars Rovers Survive Severe Dust Storms, Ready for Next Objectives

This article outlines the severe global dust storms on Mars that have hindered the progress of the two Mars exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Since the rovers are solar powered, they were forced to wait 2 months for the dust storm to pass over. Dust had collected on the solar panels of the rovers, hindering their solar energy intake. Gusts of wind helped to clear the solar panels of debries. Currently, Opportunity is now on course for the decent into Victoria Crater. The two rovers endured intense conditions throughout the storm, and are now continuing groundbreaking research on Martian geology.
Opportunity may have sustained damage to its microscopic imager, Mini-TES, during the storm, which would prevent NASA scientists from utilizing that instrument for data collection. Instead of relying on Mini-Tes to collect valuable data about Martian rocks and soils, Opportunity will use its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to learn more about the band of rocks within the Victoria Crater.