[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - August 2, 2005

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Aug 2 12:00:13 2005
Message-ID: <200508021559.j72FxIC08395_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Exploring Southward - sol 531-537, August 02, 2005:

Opportunity continued its trek south toward "Erebus Crater," making 61
meters (200 feet) of progress over two sols of driving. The rover is
approaching greater quantities of outcrop as it heads south, and the
team is excited at the possibility of using the robotic arm before
reaching Erebus.

This week, restricted sols allowed the team to drive only every other
sol. Next week, however, there will be a shift back to an early planning
cycle that will allow driving every sol if desired.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 531 (July 22, 2005): Opportunity pointed its navigation camera
rearward to shoot images for a seven-frame by one-frame mosaic. The
miniature thermal emission spectrometer systematically observed the
foreground. The panoramic camera took thumbnail images of the sky.

Sol 532: This sol's remote-sensing work included a pre-sunset observation.

Sol 533: The rover completed a successful drive of 34 meters (112 feet),
including an attitude update.

Sol 534: Opportunity looked rearward with its navigation camera from the
new location and made observations with its miniature thermal emission
spectrometer.

Sol 535: The rover used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer for
a large set of observations, jokingly referred to at the "Uberraster"
because of its size.

Sol 536: Opportunity drove 27 meters (89 feet), with approximately 10
percent slip. The drive duration was two hours, with a final heading of
155 degrees.

Sol 537 (July 28, 2005): Planned work for this sol included another
large raster by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Opportunity's total odometry after the sol 536 drive is 5,617 meters
(3.49 miles).
Received on Tue 02 Aug 2005 11:59:18 AM PDT