[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update - November 10-18, 2015

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2015 12:18:50 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201512112018.tBBKIoeH020685_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Returning to RAM - sols 4194-4201, November 10, 2015 -
November 18, 2015

Opportunity is within 'Marathon Valley' on the west rim of Endeavour Crater.

After several sols of operating using Flash storage, the rover switched
to using just RAM during Sol 4194 (Nov. 10, 2015), in order to safely
use the robotic arm. The Microscopic Imager (MI) collected a mosaic of
the surface target, 'Pvt. Ebenezer Tuttle' which was followed by the placement
of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) for several sols on integration.

On Sol 4195 (Nov. 11, 2015), Opportunity switched back to using Flash
memory in order to recover many important science data products still
stored in the Flash memory. A reset of the vehicle occurred on Sol 4196
(Nov. 12, 2015), but was quickly recovered to master sequence control
by the ground team. On Sol 4200 (Nov. 17, 2015), the rover was configured
back to using RAM only. A 43-foot (13-meter) drive to a new location with
steeper north-facing slopes was performed on that sol.

As of Sol 4201 (Nov. 18, 2015), the solar array energy production was
376 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.494 and a solar
array dust factor of 0.612.

Total odometry is 26.49 miles (42.63 kilometers), more than a marathon.
Received on Fri 11 Dec 2015 03:18:50 PM PST