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MARSDAILY
Helpful Wind Cleans Solar Panels On Opportunity Mars Rover
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 25, 2014


File image.

Opportunity is exploring 'Murray Ridge' on Solander Point, part of the rim of Endeavour Crater.

The rover continues to investigate the region called 'Cook Haven.' On Sol 3603 (March 13, 2014), Opportunity completed the in-situ (contact) analysis of a target called 'Augustine' with a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic and a placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on the same.

On the next two Sols, the rover conducted remote sensing with the collection of Navigation Camera (Navcam) and Panoramic Camera (Pancam) images and a measurement of atmospheric argon with the APXS. Atmospheric opacity (tau) measurements using the Navcam were performed in support of the InSIght mission. On Sol 3607 (March 17, 2014) a short bump was planned to approach a target rock, called 'Sugarloaf.'

However, the drive stopped after just 2.3 meters (7.55 feet) due to the rover sensing higher average current in three of the rover wheels. This was a safety check to detect possible embedding events.

Although the rover did experience as much as 50% slip, there was no risk of embedding, just a steep upward climb. Given the difficult terrain, the approach to Sugarloaf would require multiple additional drives to be able to use the robotic arm on the rock surface.

So, the science team chose to document Sugarloaf with more color imagery and to drive further south and west to new targets. On Sol 3609 (March 19, 2014), Opportunity drove about 16.35 meters (53.64 feet) to the southwest.

The rover experienced a solar panel dust cleaning event between Sols 3605 and 3606 (March 15 and March 16, 2014). This resulted in about a 10% improvement in power production.

As of Sol 3609, the solar array energy production was 574 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.450 and an improved solar array dust factor of 0.777.

Total odometry is 24.10 miles (38.79 kilometers)

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Related Links
Mars Rovers at JPL
Mars Rovers at Cornell
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more






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MARSDAILY
The Exploration of Murray Ridge Continues
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 18, 2014
Opportunity continues to explore 'Murray Ridge' on Solander Point, part of the rim of Endeavour Crater. On Sol 3596 (March 6, 2014), the rover moved forward to put a rock called 'Turnagain Arm,' within reach of the robotic arm. That evening, there was enough power to allow Opportunity to perform a full overnight Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer Argon integration. On Sol 3958 (March 8, 201 ... read more


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