This week our Sun gives us a bit of a reprieve when it comes to solar storms. We have a coronal hole in the north, near center disk, but it wont rotate into the Earth-strike zone until next week. This means the solar wind will remain quiet and slow over the next few days so aurora photographers can take a well-deserved breather! However, amateur and emergency radio operators should be smiling this week as we now have two sunspots in Earth view that are boosting the solar flux back into the mid-70s! Along with a few more bright regions that will rotate into view over this next week, radio operators should enjoy better propagation on Earth’s dayside easily over this week and likely in through next as well. Finally, GPS users should also enjoy some decent reception even on Earth’s nightside, thanks to the quiet conditions. Get the details on the new sunspots rotating into view this week and return to Mars with me as we look back at the dust storm that took the life of Opportunity rover, learn why its so important to monitor the weather there, and take a look at the current weather conditions on the Red Planet.