[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: January 16-21, 2014

[Ron Baalke]

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Celebrating 10-Years on Mars! - sols 3548-3553,
Jan. 16, 2014-Jan. 21, 2014:

Opportunity is up on 'Solander Point' at the rim of Endeavour Crater.
Opportunity is positioned on the edge of an exposed outcrop where
orbital observations suggest the possible presence of small amounts of
clay minerals.

Opportunity landed on Mars on Jan. 24, 2004 PST (Jan. 25, 2004 UTC) on
what was to be a three-month mission, but instead the rover has lived
beyond its prime mission and roved the planet for nearly 10 years.
Mission highlights, including a gallery of selected images from both
rovers is at http://mars.nasa.gov/mer10/ .

The rover is continuing to investigate this curious surface rock, called
'Pinnacle Island' that apparently was kicked up by the rover during a
recent traverse. On Sol 3548 (Jan. 16, 2014), Opportunity repositioned
the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on Pinnacle Island for an
overnight integration, documenting the placement with a Microscopic
Imager (MI) finder frame. On Sol 3551 (Jan. 19, 2014), the rover again
repositioned the APXS on Pinnacle Island for a multi-sol integration,
documenting the new placement with a Microscopic Image finder frame and
front Hazards Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) images.

As of Sol 3553 (Jan. 21, 2014), the solar array energy production was
361 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.595 and a solar
array dust factor of 0.594.

Total odometry is 24.07 miles (38.73 kilometers).