[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: July 31 - August 5, 2014

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 16:04:22 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201408072304.s77N4MGi026071_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Heads to 'Marathon Valley' -
sols 3739-3744, July 31, 2014-August 05, 2014:

Opportunity is moving south along the west rim of Endeavour Crater
heading towards 'Marathon Valley,' a notch observed from orbit to have
an abundant clay mineral signature.

On Sol 3739 (July 31, 2014), the rover made an approach to a surface
target of interest with a 26-feet (8-meter) drive. At the end of the
sol, Opportunity collected some Panoramic Camera (Pancam) imagery and
performed an atmospheric argon measurement with the Alpha Particle X-ray
Spectrometer (APXS). On Sol 3741 (Aug. 2, 2014), the rover began two
sols of in-situ (contact) science using the robotic arm instruments. On
the first sol Opportunity collected a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic of
the target 'Fairweather,' and then placed the APXS for a multi-hour
integration. On the next sol, the observations were repeated on a
second, offset target. With the in-situ work complete, the rover headed
south again on Sol 3744 (Aug. 5, 2014), driving over 282 feet (86
meters). The drive was followed with the usual post-drive Navigation
Camera (Navcam) and Pancam panoramas to support the next drive.

As of Sol 3744 (Aug. 5, 2014), the solar array energy production was 686
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.872 and a solar array
dust factor of 0.802.

Total odometry is 25.09 miles (40.38 kilometers).
Received on Thu 07 Aug 2014 07:04:22 PM PDT