[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: February 27 - March 3, 2015

[Ron Baalke]

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Taking a Closer Look at Purple-Bluish Rock Formation 
- sols 3944-3948, February 27, 2015-March 3, 2015:

Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater near "Marathon Valley," 
a putative location for abundant clay minerals now only about 394 feet 
(120 meters) away.

The project is preparing to mask off the troubled Bank 7 sector of the 
Flash file system with a new version of the flight software (FSW) after 
the project completes the near-term science campaign.

The rover has sampled an unusual rock composition in the rim region near 
Marathon Valley. The near-term plan is to sample more rocks exhibiting 
the purple and bluish coloring that is apparent at this site. On Sol 3945 
(Feb. 28, 2015), Opportunity drove over 98 feet (30 meters) to the south 
to approach more of the purple and blue rock types. Supporting Navigation 
Camera (Navcam) and Panoramic Camera (Pancam) panoramas were also collected. 
On Sol 3848 (March 3, 2015), the rover bumped forward just under 13 feet 
(4 meters) to reach these rocks and place candidate targets within reach 
of the robotic arm instruments.

The plan ahead is to brush the surface targets with the Rock Abrasion 
Tool (RAT) and collect a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic and place the 
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) for a multi-hour integration.

As of Sol 3948 (March 3, 2015), the solar array energy production was 
545 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.708 and a solar 
array dust factor of 0.687.

Total odometry is 26.15 miles (42.09 kilometers).