[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: December 7-13, 2011

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:43:27 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201112161843.pBGIhRWZ014599_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity at One of its Two Winter Spots -
sols 2798-2804, December 7-13, 2011:

Opportunity is positioned at one of the candidate sites for winter, on
the north end of "Cape York" on the rim of Endeavour Crater.

There are two candidate sites for winter havens that indicate sufficient
northerly tilt. Opportunity is at one of those spots. The rover is
tilted about 16 degrees to the north for favorable solar energy
production. Opportunity is continuing the in-situ (contact)
investigation of the outcrop at this location. On Sols 2798 (Dec. 7,
2011), and 2800 (Dec. 9, 2011), Opportunity conducted a set of
investigations using the instruments on the end of the robotic arm on
the surface target called "Boesmankop." Each involved collecting
Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaics followed by an overnight placement of
the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). On Sol 2801 (Dec. 10,
2011), the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) was used to brush the surface target
and collect another MI mosaic. The rover also took a panoramic camera
(Pancam) image, followed by the placement of the APXS for an overnight
integration.

Wanting to investigate a rock clast on the outcrop, the rover performed
a small 9-degree counter-clockwise turn on Sol 2803 (Dec. 12, 2011).
This positions that rock clast within reach of Opportunity's robotic
arm. The plan ahead is an in-situ investigation of the rock clast with
the instruments on the end of the robotic arm.

As of Sol 2804 (Dec. 13, 2011), solar array energy production was 302
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.714 and a solar array
dust factor of 0.486.

Total odometry is 21.35 miles (34,360.78 meters, or 34.36 kilometers).
Received on Fri 16 Dec 2011 01:43:27 PM PST