[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: March 07-14, 2012

[Ron Baalke]

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Energy Levels Expected to Rise - sols 2887-2893,
March 07-14, 2012:

Opportunity is positioned on the north end of Cape York on the rim of
Endeavour Crater with an approximate 15-degree northerly tilt for
favorable solar energy production.

Opportunity is passing through the period of minimum solar insolation.
Although the winter solstice is still some weeks away, it is expected
that energy levels will start to rise. Further, there has been some very
small dust cleaning, slightly improving the dust factor of the solar
arrays.

Radio Doppler tracking passes for the geo-dynamic investigations were
performed on Sols 2890 and 2893 (March 11 and 14, 2012). Microscopic
Imager mosaics were collected on Sol 2887 and 2889 (March 8 and 10,
2012). An atmospheric argon measurement with the Alpha Particle X-ray
Spectrometer (APXS) was taken on Sol 2888 (March 9, 2012). A low-light
Panoramic Camera (Pancam) image was also collected this Sol and
Panoramic Camera images of "Morris Hill" were taken on Sol 2892 (March
13, 2012). The Mossbauer spectrometer was otherwise placed down on the
surface target Amboy collecting further integration time.

As of Sol 2893 (March 14, 2012), solar array energy production was 301
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.542 and a solar array
dust factor of 0.489.

Total odometry is unchanged at 21.35 miles (34,361.37 meters).