[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update - May 20-25, 2015

[Ron Baalke]

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Preparing for Solar Conjunction - sols 4024-4029, 
May 20, 2015-May 25, 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 inside the Spirit of St. Louis crater and preparing 
for solar conjunction.

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. More on solar conjunction here:
http://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/nightsky/solar-conjunction/.

The intent on Sol 4025 (May 21, 2015) was to drive out of the Spirit of 
St. Louis crater, but a vehicle reset and associated amnesia event occurred 
on the evening of Sol 4024 (May 20, 2015), stopping all onboard sequences. 
The rover was restored to master sequence control on Sol 4026 (May 22, 
2015). In light of the recent unexplained vehicle resets, the project 
made the decision to configure the rover in RAM-only mode, avoiding the 
use of non-volatile Flash memory for storage. That configuration change 
was made on Sol 4027 (May 23, 2015).

On Sol 4029 (May 25, 2015), Opportunity successfully completed a 157-foot 
(48 meter) drive, putting the rover outside of the Spirit of St. Louis 
crater. Another drive is planned before stopping for solar conjunction. 
Other than the Flash memory related issues, the rover is in good health.

As of Sol 4028 (May 24, 2015), the solar array energy production was 558 
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.962 and a solar array 
dust factor of 0.728.

Total odometry is 26.31 miles (42.35 kilometers), more than a marathon.