[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: September 12-17, 2013

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:28:50 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201309192328.r8JNSo3V027675_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Robotic Arm Goes to Work on Rock Target -
sols 3426-3431, Sep. 12, 2013-Sep. 17, 2013:

Opportunity is at the northern edge of 'Solander Point' on the rim of
Endeavour Crater. The rover is investigating the geologic contact at the
base of Solander Point.

On Sol 3426 (Sept. 12, 2013), Opportunity drove 28 feet (8.62 meters) to
reach a surface target. On the next sol, the rover deployed the robotic
arm to investigate the surface target named, 'Poverty Bush.' First, the
rover imaged the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) bit to assess the remaining
grind life. Then, the rover collected some calibration sky flat images
with the Microscopic Imager (MI). After that, a Microscopic Imager
mosaic was collected of Poverty Bush, followed by the placement of the
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) for a multi-sol integration.

On Sol 3430 (Sept. 16, 2013), Opportunity drove away heading about 39
feet (12 meters) to the west/northwest. On the next sol, the rover
continued driving another 74 feet (22.5 meters) to reach another
candidate outcrop for in-situ (contact) science investigation.

As of Sol 3431 (Sept. 17, 2013), the solar array energy production was
346 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.619 and a solar
array dust factor of 0.520.

Total odometry is 23.82 miles (38.34 kilometers).
Received on Thu 19 Sep 2013 07:28:50 PM PDT