• Mars Rover Opportunity Update: February 3-9, 2016

    From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Fri Feb 19 23:04:39 2016
    From Newsgroup: sci.space.news


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

    OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Taking Panoramic Views and Prepping for Science
    - sols 4276-4282, February 03, 2016-February 09, 2016:

    Opportunity is exploring 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour
    crater. The rover is up on very steep slopes to reach high-value science targets on 'Knudsen Ridge.'

    For the past week, Opportunity has been collecting extensive Pancam
    panoramas of the location all around Knudsen Ridge. One important
    purpose is to collect detailed imagery of the surface targets that the
    rover will approach next for detailed in-situ (contact) investigation.

    As of Sol 4282 (Feb. 9, 2016), the solar array energy production was 493 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.443 and a solar array
    dust factor of 0.675.

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

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