[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: March 30 - April 5, 2016

[Ron Baalke]

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Captures Swirling Dust Devil at Endeavour 
Crater - sols 4331-4337, March 30, 2016-April 05, 2016: 

Opportunity is exploring the south side of 'Marathon Valley' located on 
the rim of Endeavour crater. The rover is up on the slopes of 'Knudsen 
Ridge.'

The objective is to identify specific outcrops for evidence of clay minerals. 
Opportunity is conducting a mini-'walkabout' in regions that show evidence 
for clay minerals observed from orbit. The plan is to quickly survey a 
large region with imagery and then identify surface targets of interest 
for further in-situ (contact) investigation. At each drive location on 
the walkabout, the rover collects a 360-degree Navigation Camera (Navcam) 
panorama plus targeted multi-filter (color) Panoramic Camera (Pancam) 
panoramas.

On Sol 4332 (March 31, 2016), Opportunity captured a Navcam image of a 
spectacular dust devil out in the interior of Endeavour crater, a rare 
sighting for Opportunity in Meridiani. Also on that sol, an Alpha Particle 
X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) performed a measurement of atmospheric argon. 
On the next sol, in addition to all the site survey imagery, the rover 
also collected documentary imagery of the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) bit 
to assess remaining grind capability.

On Sol 4334 (April 2, 2016), the rover headed west with a 15.4-meter drive, 
collecting more Navcam and Pancam panoramas. On Sol 4337 (April 5, 2016) 
Opportunity turned southwest and drove about 15.5 meters in its walkabout 
with more imaging before and after the drive.

As of Sol 4337 (April 5, 2016), the solar array energy production is 650 
watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.470 and a solar array 
dust factor of 0.817.