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Opportunity Examines A Meteorite Called 'Mackinac'
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 26, 2009 Opportunity surveyed another meteorite and has been driving ambitiously to the west and south to get around a field of large ripples. On Sol 2038, Opportunity circumnavigated a meteorite called "Mackinac," conducting mid-drive imagery of the rock, then drove away covering about 70 meters (230 feet) to the southwest. On Sol 2040 (Oct. 19, 2009), the rover drove approximately 72 meters (236 feet) to the southwest. It completed a similar 71-meter (233-foot) drive on the next sol, again to the southwest. Motor currents in the right-front wheel continue to remain well behaved. The rover commands the miniature thermal emission spectrometer (Mini-TES) elevation mirror open each sol in an attempt to clear some of the putative dust off the elevation mirror. To date, no improvement in the Mini-TES has been observed. As of Sol 2042 (Oct. 21, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production is 430 watt-hours, with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.586 and a dust factor of 0.5575. Total odometry is 18,322.03 meters (11.39 miles). Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Team Runs Operational Test To Prepare For Extracting SpiritPasadena CA (SPX) Oct 21, 2009 Engineers using test rovers on Earth to prepare for extracting the sand-trapped Spirit rover on Mars have added a new challenge to their preparations. Until last week, the engineers commanding and assessing drives by the test rovers were usually in the same room as the sandbox setup simulating Spirit's predicament, where they can watch how each test goes. That changed for the latest ... read more |
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