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XeroxApple t1_iriz92f wrote

Dust storms are caused by strong wind. Dont you need a sustainable atmosphere with water and foliage to make wind?

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Mo-Cance t1_irj1tyz wrote

Mars has an atmosphere, but it's only about 1% as thick as Earth's. Still more than enough to whip up dust and produce storms.

Arguably the most glaring scientific inaccuracy of the movie The Martian was that the storm in the opening scene was powerful enough to threaten the return vehicle, or to throw astronauts around. In reality, not much more than dust has a chance of being disturbed.

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blueshirt21 t1_irj2pes wrote

The author even admitted that was the biggest inaccuracy of the book, but he still needed a plot device to strand Watney.

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shadeandshine t1_irizq5a wrote

It’s more heat based if I remember it right. And a atmosphere is nice but it’s being thick enough to breath is important so is the o2 layer to protect against radiation.

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XeroxApple t1_irj1clf wrote

Hmm. Ok. Its all so interesting.

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BillHicksScream t1_irk900i wrote

The drop in pressure kills in under 20 seconds I think.

Common Sense Skeptic on youtube is good.

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FlingingGoronGonads t1_irjynas wrote

All the planets from Venus to Neptune have wind, not to mention Titan, Triton and Pluto. There are only two necessary conditions: an atmosphere and a pressure difference between two locations. (Weather reports will talk about high and low pressure systems, yes? The stronger the pressure difference between high and low zones, the faster the wind moves.) Life is not a requirement. In the case of Earth and Mars, pressure differences are created daily by solar heating, so both pre-conditions are easily met.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "sustainable atmosphere", but Mars has more than enough to create some very - very - familiar phenomena.

It's not a matter of the absolute pressure/mass of a planet's atmosphere, it's the relative difference in pressure between two locations. The air molecules generally don't care how many other air molecules surround them - they care about moving from more pressure to less pressure. If by "sustainable" you mean "permanent", then Mars qualifies (although Pluto may not). If the air was so affected by the mass of the entire atmosphere, then Earth itself could barely be considered to have winds at all - the speed and motion you see in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn make Earth hurricanes look like a light breeze by comparison.

EDITED to deal with Reddit's lousy formatting.

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