The Curiosity rover, exploring the vastness of Mars, transmitted unique footage to the Earth - the so-called "dusty devils" - sand vortices appearing in the rarefied atmosphere of the Red Planet under the influence of solar heat, got into the lenses of the rover's cameras. Attached below is a video showing the amazing sight.
“When we say 'destructive tornadoes on Mars', there is, of course, a very large amount of irony in this - the air shell of Mars differs from the Earth's atmosphere in very low density, so the most that the most terrible Martian wind can do is ruffle your hair. Nevertheless, the wind poses a certain danger to the equipment of the rovers,”says the staff of the National Aerospace Agency of the United States of America.
The wind, by the way, sometimes benefits the rovers - it can not only cover the rovers with sand, but, conversely, clean their solar panels from accumulated dust. A similar story happened once with the Opportunity apparatus.
But back to the Curiosity rover, which has now reached the foot of Mount Eolis, an extremely interesting geological structure for researchers located in the center of Gale Crater. The Martian wind, as NASA notes with surprise, was able to form Mount Aeolis, even if it took it millions, or even billions of years. So don't underestimate its destructiveness.