Welcome to Mars

[Jago]

When I woke up this morning, I apparently went from Iraq to Mars. The first picture is from my barracks room towards my supervisor's room. The second is towards the main dining facility, though you can't see it because of the dust. The third is also from my room, but I forgot to turn off the flash; I kept the last picture anyway to show you how dusty it can get here. I only resized these pictures. The color you see was the actual color of the weather. Within seconds my camera and I were coated with powdery dust. What a way to start a morning, eh?

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7462/welcometomarstolatrinecj4.jpg

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9596/welcometomarstodfackk8.jpg

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4475/welcometomarsalotofdustqh7.jpg

[Super-Duper Sombrero]

I've never seen any kind of weather pattern like that.

Any idea what causes it?

[I-n-j-i-n]

Isn't it a normal dust/sand storm with the addition of light refraction? Like how the sky is tinted red/pink in twilights?

[Jago]

The light refraction does make sense. There have been plenty of dust storms, but this is the first where we got this intense color for this long. It was 12:50pm (5:50am EST) at the time of this post, and the color was still here. Surreal indeed.

[Strike911]

Wow. Amazing. I've never seen anything like that before! Thanks for the pictures! Let us know how long that color sticks around!!

Wow.

[Brycepops]

Oh snaps, it's Hell on Earth D:

[SoloGamer]

That third pic reminds me of the Surface level from Goldeneye 007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnQUjVp4SgE

[DrumUltimA]

HOLY CRAP that's cool

[JH Sounds]

That third pic reminds me of the Surface level from Goldeneye 007

I chuckled briefly.

[Kizyr]

Oh snaps, it's Hell on Earth D:

Dangit; I missed the chance to make the first Doom reference.

But really, stay away from any portals. And don't let The Rock become your CO. KF

[Gollgagh]

Dangit; I missed the chance to make the first Doom reference.

But really, stay away from any portals. And don't let The Rock become your CO. KF

aaaaaaaaaa that is not doom

[Avatar of Justice]

I'm reading Red Mars right now, and these pictures help me better visualize how crazy red things probably would be to people colonizing Mars. Thanks!

[Jago]

Wow. Amazing. I've never seen anything like that before! Thanks for the pictures! Let us know how long that color sticks around!!

Wow.

It stayed until about 5:30pm (10:30am EST). The dust was still thick, but the weather went back to its usual tan color during a dust storm. Most of the powdery dust is gone, so it's just a lot of haze right now.

[Burn7 Toast]

That is the coolest thing i have seen all day. And by coolest I mean most horrifying sign of the apocalyspe yet.

[Zombie]

woah that's crazy...

i agree with burn7 toast, coolest thing i've seen all day.

[Nohbody]

tha is really cool. lol army

[Jago]

I'm finally back!! WOOHOO!!! Man, it was good to see my wife again, and we didn't take long to dig into our favorite beer. Let's hope I won't see Iraq again for awhile during my army career.

[Blue123]

Welcome back! Is the beer over there not too good, eh?

[lazygecko]

Did you or any of your buddies perhaps experience symptoms similiar to this?

[Shadow Wolf]

That is crazy. Welcome home Jago, and thank you for your service.

[Sinewav]

Welcome back. Awesome pics too. Have any of them in bigger sizes? They'd look really neat as desktop images.

[Jago]

Welcome back! Is the beer over there not too good, eh?

German beer? I love it!

Did you or any of your buddies perhaps experience symptoms similiar to this?

Close! There were days where breathing was quite the challenge. Ah, pure dust! Good for the lungs!!

[Blue123]

German beer? I love it!

Ah, German beer. That stuff is great. But it's pretty amusing when you think about it, German beer in an American military base in Iraq?

[Maco70]

I thought this would be about the martian chronicles or something.

That's pretty wild, and it's awesome that you were able to capture it.