Martian dust storms may generate atmospheric electrical conditions that could impact future missions

A new study by a doctoral researcher at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), part of The University of Alabama System, suggests global dust storms on Mars may organize the Martian atmosphere into regions favorable for electrical activity, increasing the potential for electrostatic discharges that could affect missions to the red planet by interfering with electronics, causing arcing between conductive surfaces, and damaging exposed scientific instruments and spacecraft systems. The research, conducted by Chali Idosa Uga, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Space Science at UAH, is published in The Planetary Science Journal.