[meteorite-list] Mars Rovers Opportunity Update - April 2-9, 2013

[Ron Baalke]

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Waiting Out Solar Event - sols 3267-3274, 
Apr. 02, 2013-Apr. 09, 2013:

Opportunity is in position for solar conjunction at 'Cape York' on the 
rim of Endeavour Crater.

Solar conjunction is when the Sun comes between Earth and Mars, which 
occurs about once every 26 months. During this time there will be 
diminished communications to Opportunity. The team will suspend sending 
the rover new commands between April 9 and April 26. The rover will 
continue science activities using a long-term set of commands to be sent 
beforehand. No new images are expected to be returned during this time. See 
solar conjunction video at: 

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/videos/index.cfm?v=122 .

On Sol 3267 (April 2, 2013), the rover performed the last robotic arm 
movement prior to the solar conjunction quiet period, using the Microscopic 
Imager (MI) to collect additional portions of a large mosaic of the target 
'Esperance,' followed by the placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer 
(APXS) down on the surface target 'Esperance3,' for the remainder of solar 
conjunction.

As of Sol 3274 (April 9, 2013), the solar array energy production was 557 
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.677 and a solar array dust 
factor of 0.617.

Total odometry is 22.15 miles (35.65 kilometers).