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Martian dust storms are driving away spacecraft-saving dust devils
Dust devils are pretty common on Mars – the Red Planet is, after all, a very dusty and windy place. What’s a bit more rare is capturing one of the whirling devils on film. That’s because they fade away nearly as quickly as they appear.
But in October 2019, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter managed to snap a photo of a massive dust devil in action, courtesy of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), a powerful camera that’s been snapping photos of the Martian surface since 2006.
NASA’s first glimpse of one of these dust storms came in 1971 when the Mariner 9 spacecraft — the first to orbit another planet — arrived at the red planet. Since then, we’ve seen quite a few of these dusty spectacles global storms: in 1977 (twice), 1982, 1994, 2001, 2007 and 2018.
In 2018, we lost the Opportunity rover to the strongest dust storm ever observed on Mars. It blotted out nearly all of the sun’s light for several weeks, turning day into night and preventing the rover from being able to charge its batteries. (Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, ran on solar power, as opposed to Curiosity and the Mars 2020 rover, which run on nuclear power.)
Martian dust storms are common, especially at specific times in the year, like during the southern hemisphere’s spring and summer. Localized storms tend to last a couple of days and can cover regions of the planet the size of the United States. But planet-encircling ones are a different story.
These massive, global storms are usually unpredictable, and can linger for months at a time. “We still don’t know what drives the variability, but the 2018 storm gives another data point,” says Scott Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who’s a lead in NASA’s dust storm investigation.
Dust devils are rotating columns of air and dust that form when hot air from the surface rises. The current of air created forms a whirlwind, which can be useful for clearing off solar panels on spacecraft as they pass over.
As we move towards potential human missions we need to know how the dust will affect astronauts as well as their equipment. Understanding how often these phenomena occur will be extremely helpful for future missions.
During the dust storm of 2018, Curiosity was able to collect data about the storm, watching as its effects were felt half a world away from where Opportunity sat, hunkered down and hibernating.
Curiosity discovered that dust devils disappear during a dust storm, which happens to be when we need them the most. And they’re gone for several months afterwards as well. This is because the storm interrupts the wind-generating processes that spawn the dust devils.
According to Guzewich, understanding a global storm’s impact on dust devils is a crucial component in planning how to manage equipment during future Mars missions. “You need to be prepared to go a while before your next dust devil passes over and cleans you off,” he said.
Researchers at the University of Arizona recently published details on a newly photographed dust devil, which formed on the volcanic plains of Amazonis Planitia.
According to the HiRISE imaging team, the core of the dust devil is 164 feet (50 meters) wide, and probably about 2,32 feet (650 meters) tall. As massive as it sounds, there are even larger ones whirling around.
In March 2012, HiRISE took a photo of an active dust devil that was a whopping 12 miles (20 kilometers) tall. But was only slightly wider than the most recent one, at just over 229 feet (70 meters) wide.
For the first time, humanity has a fleet of spacecraft orbiting Mars as well as one rover roaming the surface right now (with two more to follow in the coming months). With their help, scientists will be able to better understand this puzzling phenomenon.
Elon Musk
SpaceX maintains unbelievable Starship target despite Booster 18 incident
It appears that it will take more than an anomaly to stop SpaceX’s march towards Starship V3’s refinement.
SpaceX recently shared an incredibly ambitious and bold update about Starship V3’s 12th test flight.
Despite the anomaly that damaged Booster 18, SpaceX maintained that it was still following its plans for the upgraded spacecraft and booster for the coming months. Needless to say, it appears that it will take more than an anomaly to stop SpaceX’s march towards Starship V3’s refinement.
Starship V3 is still on a rapid development path
SpaceX’s update was posted through the private space company’s official account on social media platform X. As per the company, “the Starbase team plans to have the next Super Heavy booster stacked in December, which puts it on pace with the test schedule planned for the first Starship V3 vehicle and associated ground systems.”
SpaceX then announced that Starship V3’s maiden flight is still expected to happen early next year. “Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Elon Musk mentioned a similar timeline on X earlier this year. In the lead up to Starshp Flight 11, which proved flawless, Musk stated that “Starship V3 is a massive upgrade from the current V2 and should be through production and testing by end of year, with heavy flight activity next year.” Musk has also mentioned that Starship V3 should be good enough to use for initial Mars missions.
Booster 18 failure not slowing Starship V3’s schedule
SpaceX’s bold update came after Booster 18 experienced a major anomaly during gas system pressure testing at SpaceX’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas. SpaceX confirmed in a post on X that no propellant was loaded, no engines were installed, and personnel were positioned at a safe distance when the booster’s lower section crumpled, resulting in no injuries.
Still, livestream footage showed significant damage around the liquid oxygen tank area of Booster 18, leading observers to speculate that the booster was a total loss. Booster 18 was among the earliest vehicles in the Starship V3 series, making the failure notable. Despite the setback, Starship V3’s development plans appear unchanged, with SpaceX pushing ahead of its Q1 2026 test flight target.
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Tesla Sweden faces fresh union blockade at key Gothenburg paint shop
Allround Lack works with painting and damage repair of passenger cars, including Teslas.
Tesla’s ongoing labor conflict in Sweden escalated again as the trade union IF Metall issued a new blockade halting all Tesla paintwork at Allround Lack in Gothenburg.
Allround Lack works with painting and damage repair of passenger cars, including Teslas. It currently employs about 20 employees.
Yet another blockade against Tesla Sweden
IF Metall’s latest notice ordered a full work stoppage for all Tesla-related activity at Allround Lack. With the blockade in place, paint jobs on Tesla-owned vehicles, factory-warranty repairs, and transport-damage fixes, will be effectively frozen, as noted in a report from Dagens Arbete. While Allround Lack is a small paint shop, its work with Tesla means that the blockade would add challenges to the company’s operations in Sweden, at least to some degree.
Paint shop blockades have been a recurring tool in the longstanding conflict. The first appeared in late 2023, when repair shops were barred from servicing Tesla vehicles. Days later, the Painters’ Union implemented a nationwide halt on Tesla paint work across more than 100 shops. Since then, a steady stream of workshops has been pulled into the conflict.
Earlier blockades faced backlash from consumers
The sweeping effects of the early blockades drew criticism from industry groups and consumers. Employers and industry organization Transportföretagen stated that the strikes harmed numerous workshops across Sweden, with about 10 of its members losing about 50% of their revenue.
Private owners also expressed their objections. Tibor Blomhäll, chairman of Tesla Club Sweden, told DA in a previous statement that the blockades from IF Metall gave the impression that the union was specifically attacking consumers. “If I get parking damage to my car, I pay for the paint myself. The company Tesla is not involved in that deal at all. So many people felt singled out, almost stigmatized. What have I done as a private individual to get a union against me?” Blomhäll stated.
In response to these complaints, IF Metall introduced exemptions, allowing severely damaged vehicles to be repaired. The union later reopened access for private owners at workshops with collective agreements. The blockades at the workshops were also reformulated to only apply to work that is “ordered by Tesla on Tesla’s own cars, as well as work covered by factory warranties and transport damage on Tesla cars.”
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Tesla breaks Norway’s all-time annual sales record with one month to spare
With November alone delivering 4,260 new registrations, Tesla has cemented its most dominant year ever in one of Europe’s most mature EV markets.
Tesla shattered Norway’s decade-old annual sales record this month, overtaking Volkswagen’s long-standing milestone with over one month still left in the year. Backed by surging demand ahead of Norway’s upcoming VAT changes, Tesla has already registered 26,666 vehicles year-to-date, surpassing Volkswagen’s 2016 record of 26,572 units.
With November alone delivering 4,260 new registrations month-to-date, Tesla has cemented its most dominant year ever in one of Europe’s most mature EV markets.
Model Y drives historic surge in Norway
Tesla’s impressive momentum has been led overwhelmingly by the Model Y, which accounted for 21,517 of Norway’s registrations this year, as noted in a CarUp report, citing data from Elbil Statistik. The Model 3 followed with 5,087 units, while the Model S and Model X contributed 30 and 19 vehicles, respectively. Even the parallel-imported Cybertruck made the charts with 13 registrations.
Demand intensified sharply through autumn as Norwegian buyers rushed to secure deliveries before the country’s VAT changes take effect in January. The new regulation is expected to add roughly NOK 50,000 to the price of a Model Y, prompting a wave of early purchases that helped lift Tesla beyond the previous all-time record well before year-end.
With December still ahead, Tesla is positioned to extend its historic lead further. Needless to say, it appears that Norway will prove to be one of Tesla’s strongest markets in Europe.
FSD could be a notable demand driver in 2026
What’s especially interesting about Tesla’s feat in Norway is that the company’s biggest selling point today, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), is not yet available there. Tesla, however, recently noted in a post on X that the Dutch regulator RDW has reportedly committed to issuing a Netherlands national approval for FSD (Supervised) in February 2026.
The RDW posted a response to Tesla’s post, clarifying the February 2026 target but stating that FSD’s approval is not assured yet. “The RDW has drawn up a schedule with Tesla in which Tesla is expected to be able to demonstrate that FSD Supervised meets the requirements in February 2026. RDW and Tesla know what efforts need to be made to make a decision on this in February. Whether the schedule will be met remains to be seen in the coming period,” the RDW wrote in a post on its official wesbite.
If FSD (Supervised) does get approved next year, Tesla’s vehicles could gain a notable advantage over competitors, as they would be the only vehicles on the market capable of driving themselves on both inner-city streets and highways with practically no driver input.
SpaceX maintains unbelievable Starship target despite Booster 18 incident
Tesla Sweden faces fresh union blockade at key Gothenburg paint shop
