[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: July 24-31, 2013

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 15:20:09 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201308072220.r77MK9Dp012545_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Taking Time to Study the Area Near 'Solander
Point' - sols 3377-3384, Jul. 24, 2013-Jul. 31, 2013:

Opportunity has been investigating an in-situ (contact) science target,
a rock called 'Black Shoulder.' The rover is still about 656 feet (200
meters) away from the base of 'Solander Point,' but near enough to be
able to spend time conducting local field science.

With the rover already at Black Shoulder, the robotic arm was used to
collect a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic of the rock's surface before
the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) was placed on Sol 3378
(July 25, 2013). Opportunity continued the investigation of the rock's
surface with more MI images and APXS integrations on Sols 3380 and 3381
(July 27 and 28, 2013). On the morning of the second sol, the first set
of Panoramic Camera (Pancam) images of Solander Point, as part of a long
baseline stereo imaging campaign, were collected. On Sol 3382 (July 29,
2013), a target on the rock was ground and brushed by the Rock Abrasion
Tool (RAT), followed by a MI mosaic and an APXS measurement on the
freshly ground surface.

With the work now complete at Black Shoulder, the rover drove about 33
feet (10 meters) to the east on Sol 3384 (July 31, 2013), to set up for
the second set of Pancam images of Solander Point, part of the long
baseline stereo imaging campaign.

As of Sol 3384 (July 31, 2013), the solar array energy production was
395 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.800 and a solar
array dust factor of 0.574.

Total odometry is 23.60 miles (37.98 kilometers).
Received on Wed 07 Aug 2013 06:20:09 PM PDT