[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: March 2-9, 2016

[Ron Baalke]

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Rover on Slippery Slopes - sols 4304-4310, 
March 02, 2015-March 09, 2016:

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

On Sol 4303 (March 1, 2016), a 6-feet (1.9-meter) drive repositioned the 
rover for a better angle on 'Pvt. Joseph Whitehouse,' a small cobble named 
for a member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. Post-drive imagery 
of the new position was then collected. Slippage from the steep slopes 
required another 4 feet (1.2 meter) drive on Sol 4304 (March 2, 2016). 
That drive also experienced significant slip but continued to make uphill 
progress toward the cobble. More local imagery was taken after the drive. 
The following Sol, a Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic was taken of the 
Pvt. Joseph Whitehouse environs and the rover deck was imaged for dust 
monitoring. On Sol 4306 (March 4, 2016), missed frames from the Whitehouse 
mosaic were retaken.

Another approach drive was attempted on Sol 4307 (March 6, 2016), but 
slip caused the drive to end prematurely. Afterwards post-drive imaging 
was taken. The following Sol additional frames of the Knudsen Ridge mosaic 
were taken. On Sol 4308 (March 7, 2016), more Navigation Camera (Navcam) 
images were taken of the immediate area and more images were taken of 
the deck for dust monitoring. Yet another drive was attempted on Sol 4309 
(March 8, 2016), only to be terminated again by high tilts and slip. The 
following morning a Navcam cloud movie was taken and later Pancam multi-filter 
images of the foreground. That afternoon, more Pancam dust monitoring 
images were taken.

As of Sol 4310 (March 9, 2016), the solar array energy production was 
548 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.431 and a solar 
array dust factor of 0.716.

Total odometry is 26.51 miles (42.66 kilometers), more than a marathon.