There's a historic dust storm on Mars — and it's nothing like 'The Martian'

As an intense dust storm rages on Mars, many are wondering — how bad can a Martian storm really be?

Tuesday (June 12), NASA's Opportunity rover stopped communications amid a severe dust storm on the Red Planet. But while the storm hasn't killed the rover yet — Opportunity could still revive once the skies clear — how dangerous can storms on Mars get?

For fans of "The Martian" novel by Andy Weir, or the film based on that book, the answer may be a disappointment. Storms on Mars aren't quite as dramatic as the book or the film adaptation portray them to be. While Martian winds at the planet's surface can reach up to about 60 mph (about 97 km/h), this is less than half the speed of some hurricane winds here on Earth and probably not strong enough to rip apart or tip any major equipment, NASA officials said in a statement.

However, even when winds on the Red Planet reach their highest speeds, wind on Mars isn't quite as powerful as it is on Earth. "Mars' atmospheric pressure is a lot less [than Earth's]. So, things get blown [around], but it's not with the same intensity," William Farrell, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in the statement.

So, "The Martian" film accurately shows Mark Watney sweeping dust off of his solar panels every day, because Martian dust particles accumulate and stick easily because they're slightly electrostatic. But dust storms on Mars aren't as powerful as they might seem based on the movie.

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