[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update - March 18-24, 2015

[Ron Baalke]

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Flash Reformatted and Marathon Completed - sols 3963-3969, 
March 18, 2015-March 24, 2015:

The Opportunity mission is now the first human enterprise to exceed marathon 
distance of travel on another world.

Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater near 'Marathon Valley', 
a putative location for abundant clay minerals. The rover is approaching 
a feature called 'Spirit of St. Louis Crater' at the entrance to Marathon 
Valley.

On Sol 3964 (March 19, 2015), the flash-memory file system was reformatted 
using new flight software. The reformat was successful. The rover is again 
using flash for nonvolatile data storage. On Sol 3966 (March 21, 2015), 
Opportunity began approaching the Spirit of St. Louis Crater with a 177-foot 
(54-meter) drive, avoiding some obstacles along the way. The drive was 
preceded with some targeted Pancam imagery and followed by a Navcam panorama, 
which is typical practice when driving.

On Sol 3968 (overnight March 23 to March 24), Opportunity made history. 
The rover the rover drove 154 feet (46.9 meters) in a dog leg around the 
crater. With that drive, Opportunity exceeded the distance for a marathon 
(26.219 miles or 42.195 kilometers). On Sol 3959 (March 24), the rover 
continued to advance with a 28-foot (8.5-meter) approach to a light-toned 
rock outcrop.

As of Sol 3969, the solar array energy production was 610 watt-hours with 
an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.678 and a solar array dust factor of 
0.717.

Total odometry as of Sol 3969 (March 24, 2015) is 26.241 mile (42.230 
kilometers).