Ken S. Tucker wrote:

On a personal note, I recall a Mariner Probe
arrived just at the time of a huge dust storm.
As this event occured in the Cold War, I didn't
know if this was a cover-up or truth.

Sorry to sound like an idiot, but I never did know
if the lenses on that Mariner may have just fogged.

I presume you are referring to Mariner 9.

No, the "lenses on that Mariner [did not] just [fog]," as evidenced by
the fact that Earth-based astronomers also detected the dust storm.
Normal mapping operations by Mariner 9 commenced once the storm died down.

See http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/...g?sc=1971-051A

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Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii