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TheMightyTywin t1_j12jror wrote

How long might it take to be buried? Will they put them in any kind of cover?

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Izawwlgood t1_j13nlz8 wrote

Not sure, but for comparison, rovers on Mars often experience failstate conditions when dust covers their solar panels over the course of a few months to a year or so. There have been instances of small twisters rolling past or over a rover and clearing off the panels.

So the deposition is probably not more than a few mm annually, if that, and maybe the material of the sample holders is dust repellant or something, but "being covered by dust" is most certainly something to consider.

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