[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: April 04-12, 2012

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:11:11 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201204122311.q3CNBB0n016276_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Left-Front Wheel Stabilized - sols 2914-2921,
April 04-12, 2012:

Opportunity is positioned on the north end of Cape York on the rim of
Endeavour Crater with an approximate 15-degree northerly tilt for
favorable solar energy production.

The solar insolation has been improving and the rover has benefitted
from some small dust cleaning events. Radio Doppler tracking passes for
the geo-dynamic investigation were performed on Sols 2916 and 2918
(April 6 and April 9, 2012). An atmospheric argon measurement was
collected by the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on Sol 2915
(April 5, 2012). On Sol 2914 (April 4, 2012), the left-front wheel of
the rover was stabilized by performing two wheel motions with steering
wiggles in between. Subsequence diagnostic imaging has shown the rover
to be stable with no detected motion. A Microscopic Imager (MI) image of
the left-front wheel was taken from the modified stow position of the
robotic arm. Although the image is out of focus (expected), it does show
good contact between the left-front wheel and the terrain. Other imagery
also confirms this. The project has thus resumed in-situ (contact)
science with the robotic arm instruments.

On Sols 2919 and 2920 (April 10 and April 11, 2012), a suite of MI
mosaics were collected of surface targets each followed by a placement
of the APXS for an overnight integration. More dust cleaning events have
occurred, improving the solar array dust factor by a small amount.

As of Sol 2921 (April 12, 2012), solar array energy production was 336
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.526 and an improved
solar array dust factor of 0.535.

Total odometry is unchanged at 21.35 miles (34,361.37 meters).
Received on Thu 12 Apr 2012 07:11:11 PM PDT