[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: August 13-19, 2014

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 12:54:57 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201408261954.s7QJsvcj012540_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Rover Suffers a Series of Resets This Week -
sols 3752-3758, August 13, 2014-August 19, 2014:

Opportunity is moving south along the west rim of Endeavour Crater
heading towards 'Marathon Valley,' a putative location for abundant clay
minerals.

More recently, the incidence of Flash memory-induced resets has
increased. The rover experienced resets on Sols 3754, 3757 and 3758
(Aug. 15, 18, and 19, 2014), which stops the onboard master sequence.
Because of the project's vigilance and timely actions, the impact of the
resets on rover science and exploration has been minimized. But the
increase reset rate is compelling expedited corrective action to the
Flash memory issue.

On Sol 3752 (Aug. 13, 2014), Opportunity bumped just a few feet (over a
meter) to a surface target, called 'Mt. Edgecumbe.' On the next sol, the
robotic arm was used to collect a Microscopic Imager mosaic of the
target, and then placed the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on
the same for multi-sol integration. The reset on Sol 3754 (Aug. 15,
2014) cut short the integration to a single sol. On Sol 3757 (Aug. 18,
2014), another reset occurred, but real-time action from mission
controllers reactivated the rover's sequence and Opportunity was able to
complete the planned drive, achieving about 157 feet (48 meters).
Another reset happened on Sol 3758 (Aug. 19, 2014), suspending the
remote sensing observation on that sol. The plan ahead to resume rover
activities, including driving, until the reset problem can be corrected.

As of Sol 3758 (Aug. 19, 2014), the solar array energy production was
692 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.888 and a solar
array dust factor of 0.788.

Total odometry is 25.28 miles (40.69 kilometers).
Received on Tue 26 Aug 2014 03:54:57 PM PDT