[meteorite-list] Mars Rovers Opportunity Update - April 2-9, 2013

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:26:09 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201304122226.r3CMQ9ZY005883_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Waiting Out Solar Event - sols 3267-3274,
Apr. 02, 2013-Apr. 09, 2013:

Opportunity is in position for solar conjunction at 'Cape York' on the
rim of Endeavour Crater.

Solar conjunction is when the Sun comes between Earth and Mars, which
occurs about once every 26 months. During this time there will be
diminished communications to Opportunity. The team will suspend sending
the rover new commands between April 9 and April 26. The rover will
continue science activities using a long-term set of commands to be sent
beforehand. No new images are expected to be returned during this time. See
solar conjunction video at:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/videos/index.cfm?v=122 .

On Sol 3267 (April 2, 2013), the rover performed the last robotic arm
movement prior to the solar conjunction quiet period, using the Microscopic
Imager (MI) to collect additional portions of a large mosaic of the target
'Esperance,' followed by the placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer
(APXS) down on the surface target 'Esperance3,' for the remainder of solar
conjunction.

As of Sol 3274 (April 9, 2013), the solar array energy production was 557
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.677 and a solar array dust
factor of 0.617.

Total odometry is 22.15 miles (35.65 kilometers).
Received on Fri 12 Apr 2013 06:26:09 PM PDT