How do NASA engineers keep dust from building up on the lander/rover?
What an excellent question! Actually, we haven’t really solved that problem yet, though many solutions have been proposed. Among the more exotic include a windshield wiper, electromagnets to repel the charged dust particles, blowers, etc. The MER rovers do not have any dust mitigation devices, so we’re at the mercy of the Martian atmosphere. That’s one reason the mission may only last the planned 90 Sols (92 Earth days), because accumulating dust on the solar panels decreases the available electric power for the rover. The Sojourner rover, in fact, lost about 1% of its available electric power each Sol during its months-long mission. Thanks for an excellent question!
