• Mars Rover Opportunity Update: Feb 10-16, 2016

    From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Fri Mar 4 20:10:58 2016
    From Newsgroup: sci.space.news


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

    OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Rover Begins Contact Science of Rock Target on
    'Knudsen Ridge' - sols 4290-4296, February 17, 2016-February 23, 2016:

    Opportunity is exploring 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour
    crater. The rover is up on the very steep slopes of 'Knudsen Ridge.'

    Opportunity has begun the in-situ (contact) investigation of the current
    site. On Sol 4291 (Feb. 18, 2016), the rover bumped about 27 inches (68 centimeters) towards the first surface target, called 'Charles Caugee'
    (named for a member of the Corps of Discovery). After the successful
    bump, more documentary imagery was collected using both the Panoramic
    Camera (Pancam) and Navigation Camera (Navcam).

    Then, on Sol 4295 (Feb. 22, 2016), the robotic arm was used to collect a detailed Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic. The plan ahead is to place the
    Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to collect elemental
    information about this target.

    As of Sol 4296 (Feb. 23, 2016), the solar array energy production was
    543 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.409 and a solar
    array dust factor of 0.707.

    Total odometry is 26.51 miles (42.66 kilometers), more than a marathon.

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  • From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Fri Mar 4 20:08:49 2016
    From Newsgroup: sci.space.news


    OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Prepping for Slope Investigations - sols 4283-4289, February 10, 2016-February 16, 2016

    Opportunity is exploring 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour crater.
    The rover is perched on the steep slopes of 'Knudsen Ridge'.

    For the past week, Opportunity has continued to collect extensive color
    Pancam panoramas of the location around the rover in preparation for in-situ (contact) investigation of the different rock units. On Sol 4284 (Feb.
    11, 2016) Opportunity did not Deep Sleep, but just napped overnight so
    that engineers could collect battery information throughout that night.
    The rover is expected to 'bump' on Sol 4291 (Feb. 18, 2016) to the first
    of several targets.

    As of Sol 4289 (Feb. 16, 2016), the solar array energy production was
    506 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.433 and a solar
    array dust factor of 0.677.

    Total odometry is 26.51 miles (42.66 kilometers), more than a marathon.

    SEEN-BY: 154/30 2320/100 0 1 227/0