The ExoMars Schiaparelli lander has been designed to cope with a global dust storm. In fact, a dust storm would be amazing for the science package, DREAMS, which for the first time will measure the electrification of the martian atmosphere due to dust grain friction. Via ESA’s Rocket Science blog.
We saw a tweet this past week from @GNU_Ninja, asking if dust storms might affect the entry, descent and landing (EDL) of the Schiaparelli demo landing module on the Red Planet’s surface on 19 October. We asked ESA’s Jorge Vago for a reply.
