Martian dust storm silences NASA's rover

TAMPA A massive dust storm raging across Mars has overcome NASA's ageing Opportunity rover, putting the unmanned, solar-powered vehicle into sleep mode and raising concerns about its survival, the US space agency said on Wednesday.
The unusually severe dust storm has blocked out the Sun over one quarter of the Red Planet, blanketing an area spanning 14 million square miles, NASA said. Opportunity, located in a spot called Perseverance Valley,"has fallen asleep and is waiting out the storm,"said John Callas, Opportunity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (REUTERS)