[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: January 18-24, 2012

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:36:09 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201201272036.q0RKa9bj009030_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Science Investigations Continue as Solar Energy
Levels Drop - sols 2839-2845, January 18-24, 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 during the winter.

Opportunity is conducting regular radio Doppler tracking measurements to
support geo-dynamic investigations of the planet, in-situ (contact)
science investigations of the target, "Amboy" including an extended
Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic, and continued collection of the
13-filter, 360-degree "Greeley" panorama.

Decreasing energy levels with the approach to the winter solstice has
constrained Opportunity for conducting both a radio Doppler tracking
pass and an afternoon Ultra High Frequency (UHF) relay pass on the same
sol. The operations team performs energy trades on the tactical timeline
as to which, if not both, of these communication passes are performed on
a given sol. On Sol 2839 (Jan. 18, 2012), the first portion of the
extended Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic was collected, followed by the
placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). The next sol
supported continued temperature diagnostics for the Mossbauer (MB)
spectrometer and conducted a radio Doppler tracking pass. On Sol 2841
(Jan. 20, 2012), the APXS was retracted and rotated to perform a
periodic atmospheric argon measurement. On Sol 2844 (Jan. 23, 2012), the
robotic arm was repositioned to collect a set of Microscopic Imager
sky-flat calibration images and another radio Doppler tracking pass was
performed.

As of Sol 2845 (Jan. 24, 2012), solar array energy production was 279
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.693 and a solar array
dust factor of 0.473.

Total odometry is unchanged at 21.35 miles (34,361.37 meters).
<http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/credits/>
Received on Fri 27 Jan 2012 03:36:09 PM PST