[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: October 8-14, 2014

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:33:47 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201410231933.s9NJXlmT007949_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Prepping for Comet Siding Spring Imaging - sols
3806-3812, October 08, 2014-October 14, 2014:

Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater heading towards
'Marathon Valley,' a putative location for abundant clay minerals only a
mile (1.6 kilometers) to the south.

The rover is examining the ejecta field of the small crater named
'Ulysses' and preparing for observations of Comet Siding Spring later in
the week. On Sol 3806 (Oct. 8, 2014), Opportunity took a late evening
set of Panoramic Camera (Pancam) images as a preliminary test of imaging
the comet.

On the next sol, Opportunity bumped 5 inches (13 centimeters) to get off
some small rocks under the wheels. On Sol 3809 (Oct. 11, 2014), there
looked to be a small rock underneath the left front wheel that might
cause the rover to shift if the robotic arm is pressed against the
surface target for a Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) brush. So, a basic set of
Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaics and an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer
(APXS) was performed without surface contact. Then a RAT preload test
was done to see if the rover moved at all. Since no movement was
observed, it was judged that the rover was stable enough to proceed with
a RAT brush on Sol 3812 (Oct. 14, 2014).

That morning another comet imaging test was performed as a 'dress
rehearsal' for the actual observations one week later. After the
successful brush on Sol 3812, another MI mosaic was collected and the
APXS was placed for a multi-sol integration. Another 'amnesia' event
occurred on the evening of Sol 3812, however it was benign to rover
operations. The rover is otherwise in good health.

As of Sol 3812 (Oct. 14, 2014), the solar array energy production was
605 watt-hours with a slightly elevated atmospheric opacity (Tau) of
1.19 and a solar array dust factor of 0.763.

Total odometry is 25.34 miles (40.78 kilometers).

Opportunity Update Archive <./status_opportunity.html#recent>
Received on Thu 23 Oct 2014 03:33:47 PM PDT