Red Martian Powder is invasive and may be poisonous to human life

Clingy Red Martian Powder is a real Martian menace for NASA and the Rovers. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Mars Rover Stuck

THE Mars rover Spirit, now bogged down in the Red Planet's soil, will need all the power it can muster if NASA scientists manage to get it moving again. So it's timely that researchers are getting a handle on why, the fine powdery dust is so invasive. It has collected on the vehicle's solar panels and stubbornly refuses to be cleared.

Martian Powdery Dust

Although the Astronauts on the Moon landing found the dust there to be very clingy, the Martian powdery dust is particularly invasive. This was noticed more than a decade ago when surprisingly large amounts stuck to the wheels of NASA's Sojourner rover. Static electricity was thought to be to blame, but no one could explain how the particles became charged. Now a team led by Keith Forward of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, have an answer.

Static Electricity

The team believe that electrons jump back and forth between the dust grains as they collide in the ever-present Martian winds and dust devils, providing a build up of static. Smaller grains would be more likely to retain their extra electrons, giving them a negative charge, while larger grains would be left positively charged. To prove this they electrically charged grains of Hawaiian volcanic ash, chosen for its similarity to Martian dust, by blowing them around in a container (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2009gl038589).

Powdery Dust Toxicity

William Farrell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland says this may help to combat the dust - important if people travel to Mars. "If the dust is toxic and you bring it inside [a human habitat] it could be extraordinarily bad." So, there is a lot more work to be done yet and even if the powdery dust is not toxic, it will be detrimental to human health if it invades the lungs.