Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




MARSDAILY
Slow-Going at Cape York for Opportunity
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 25, 2012


File image

Opportunity is roving at the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater. However, her progress has been impacted by the recent safe mode entry by the relay orbiter, Mars Odyssey. On Sol 3010 (July 12, 2012), Opportunity drove just over 180 feet (55 meters) south towards a small impact crater, named "Sao Gabriel," for investigation.

On Sol 3011 (July 13, 2012), the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer collected a measurement of atmospheric argon. But subsequent to the Sol 3010 (July 12, 2012), drive, Odyssey went into safe mode.

In response to the absence of relay support from the orbiter, several rover X-band sessions with the Deep Space Network were converted to Direct-to-Earth passes to receive a small amount of telemetry to assess the health of the rover.

Until the return of relay support from Odyssey, the plans for Opportunity were kept simple with a modest photometry campaign, daily observations of atmospheric opacity (tau) and other low-data volume remote sensing.

The Mars Color Imager on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been observing a local Martian dust storm near Endeavour Crater. The local storm has elevated the atmospheric opacity over the rover site.

Water ice cloud cover seen around the rover site is both an indication that the dust storm had abated but there were still elevated levels of atmospheric dust in the region as a result of the storm. (water-ice is nucleating on the suspended dust particles.)

From Sol 3010 (July 12, 2012), the solar array energy production was 523 watt-hours with a solar array dust factor of 0.707. As of Sol 3016 (July 18, 2012), the atmospheric opacity (Tau) is elevated at 0.571.

Total odometry is 21.49 miles (34,580.05 meters).

.


Related Links
Mars exploration rovers
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








MARSDAILY
Opportunity Runs the First Martian Marathon
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 19, 2012
With all the fanfare about Mars rover Curiosity landing on the Red Planet in August 2012, it's easy to forget that there's already a rover on Mars-an older, smaller cousin set to accomplish a feat unprecedented in the history of Solar System exploration. Mars rover Opportunity is on track to complete the first extraterrestrial marathon. A marathon is 26.2 miles. When Opportunity landed on ... read more


MARSDAILY
NASA Partner United Launch Alliance Completes Two Atlas V Reviews

The Spaceport maintains its mission cadence for Ariane 5 flights

S. Korea plans fresh rocket launch in October

NASA Selects Launch Services Contract for Jason-3 Mission

MARSDAILY
Slow-Going at Cape York for Opportunity

ExoMars program gathers strength

Opportunity Runs the First Martian Marathon

NASA Conducts Mission Simulations In Hawaii

MARSDAILY
Another Small Step for Mankind

Russia starts building Moon spaceship, eyes Lunar base

Plans to revisit Moon impeded by financial difficulties

Russia says no manned moon shots till 2018

MARSDAILY
Hubble Discovers a Fifth Moon Orbiting Pluto

Hubble telescope spots fifth moon near Pluto

New Horizons Doing Science in Its Sleep

It's a Sim: Out in Deep Space, New Horizons Practices the 2015 Pluto Encounter

MARSDAILY
UCF Discovers Exoplanet Neighbor

Can Astronomers Detect Exoplanet Oceans

The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Dust

Study in Nature sheds new light on planet formation

MARSDAILY
Taiwan to get new powerful rocket system: report

NASA Selects Space Launch System Advanced Booster Proposals

J-2X Engine With Nozzle Extension Goes the Distance

Cella Energy Signs Fuel Source Deal with Kennedy Space Center

MARSDAILY
Looking Forward to Shenzhou 10

Astronauts in good shape after return

Shenzhou mission sparks 'science fever'

China Beats Russia on Space Launches

MARSDAILY
Planetary Resources Announces Agreement with Virgin Galactic for Payload Services

Explained: Near-miss asteroids

The B612 Foundation Announces The First Privately Funded Deep Space Mission

Ex-NASA astronauts aim to launch asteroid tracker




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement