One particularly large Martian storm was exhaustively studied up close due to coincidental timing. When the first spacecraft to successfully orbit another planet, Mariner 9, arrived and successfully orbited Mars on 14 November 1971, planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with a planet-wide robe of dust, the largest storm ever observed on Mars. The surface of the planet was totally obscured. Mariner 9's computer was reprogrammed from Earth to delay imaging of the surface for a couple of months until the dust settled, however, the surface-obscured images contributed much to the collection of Mars atmospheric and planetary surface science.
One particularly large Martian storm was exhaustively studied up close due to coincidental timing When the first spacecraft to successfully orbit another planet Mariner 9 arrived and successfully orbited Mars on 14 November 1971 planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with a planet-wide robe of dust the largest storm ever observed on Mars The surface of the planet was totally obscured Mariner 9's computer was reprogrammed from Earth to delay imaging of the surface for a couple of months until the dust settled however the surface-obscured images contributed much to the collection of Mars atmospheric and planetary surface science