OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Getting Ready to Enter 'Spirit of St. Louis'
Crater - sols 4004-4010, April 29, 2015-May 05, 2015: Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater at the 'Spirit of St. Louis' crater near the entrance of 'Marathon Valley.' The rover had been exploring the outcrops just outside the Spirit of St. Louis crater, so now its time to enter the crater. On Sol 4004 (April 29, 2015), Opportunity performed a toe-dip maneuver to test the physical nature of the crater interior, then backed out and drove along the rim towards another entry point. On the next sol, here, the rover entered the crater with a 30 feet (9-meter) drive toward the interior crater mound, called 'Lindbergh.' On Sol 4006 (May 1, 2015), Opportunity performed a dog-leg approach to Lindbergh mound to reach some surface targets. The next sol, the rover collected an atmospheric argon measurement with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and performed a late-night Panoramic Camera (Pancam) observation of a Phobos eclipse. Now in position at the mound, Opportunity performed some in-situ (contact) science at a target, called 'Roosevelt Field.' Using the robotic arm, a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic of the target was collected with the placement of the APXS on the same for a multi-hour integration. With each drive the rover made, both pre-drive targeted Pancam images and post-drive Navigation Camera (Navcam) panoramas were collected. The rover did experience one benign amnesia event on the evening of Sol 4004 (April 29, 2015), but otherwise the rover is in great health. As of Sol 4010 (May 5, 2015), the solar array energy production was 508 watt-hours with an increased atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 1.333 and a solar array dust factor of 0.729. Total odometry is 26.27 miles (42.28 kilometers), more than a marathon. ______________________________________________ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
