[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update - September 2-9, 2015

[Ron Baalke]

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Team Continues to Operate Rover in RAM Mode  - sols 
4126-4133, September 02, 2015-September 09, 2015:

Opportunity is within 'Marathon Valley' on the west rim of Endeavour Crater 
exploring for clay minerals.

The rover is operating in persistent RAM mode (not using Flash for data 
storage). On Sol 4127 (Sept. 3, 2015), Opportunity bumped just 26 inches 
(65 centimeters) towards the surface target, 'Pvt. Silas Goodrich' to 
begin an in-situ (contact) science campaign.

On Sols 4130 and 4131 (Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, 2015), the rover conducted 
a 2-sol robotic arm activity. On the first sol, the Alpha Particle X-ray 
Spectrometer (APXS) was placed on the target for an overnight integration. 
On the second sol, the Microscopic Imager (MI) was used to collect an 
extensive mosaic of the surface target.

Flash Bank 7 continues to be readout and downlink as part of the ongoing 
diagnostics investigation of Flash memory. Other than Flash, Opportunity 
is in good health.

As of Sol 4133 (Sept. 9, 2015), the solar array energy production was 
356 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.631 and a solar 
array dust factor of 0.562.

Total odometry is (26.42 miles) 42.52 kilometers, more than a marathon.