Mars Exploration News  
MARSDAILY
Storm Reduces Available Solar Energy on Opportunity
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 05, 2016


File image.

Opportunity is completing the exploration of 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour crater.

The rover completed a Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic of the grooves on Sol 4474 (Aug. 24, 2016), along with an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) measurement.

Opportunity bumped only 24 inches (62 centimeters) on the next sol for a closer look at some nearby surface targets. From this location, the rover collected a Pancam panorama of 'Lewis and Clark Gap,' the next destination.

On Sol 4477 (Aug. 27, 2016), Opportunity headed south for about 161 feet (49 meters) with a small dogleg at the end of the drive. As is general with driving, post-drive imagery was collected. The rover continued to head towards the gap on Sol 4479 (Aug. 29, 2016), with a 51 feet (15.4-meter) drive. Atmospheric opacity (tau) has increased due to regional dust storms.

The elevated tau reduces the available solar energy, so the drive was not very long. On Sol 4480 (Aug. 30, 2016), Opportunity continued to drive further with only a 39 feet (11.8-meter) drive. A color Pancam panorama was collected of the feature, called 'Wharton Ridge.'

As of Sol 4480 (Aug. 30, 2016), the solar array energy production is 453 watt-hours with an elevated atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 1.079 and a solar array dust factor of 0.693.

Total odometry is 26.83 miles (43.18 kilometers).


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Opportunity Archive at JPL
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

Previous Report
MARSDAILY
Opportunity rover studying grooves
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 19, 2016
Opportunity is wrapping up exploration of 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover has driven to an area were the rock outcrop has interesting grooves. The science team is using Opportunity to conduct an extensive visual documentation campaign at this area. The rover is collecting both short-baseline and long-baseline multi-spectral stereo image data with the Panoramic C ... read more


MARSDAILY
Space tourists eye $150mln Soyuz lunar flyby

Roscosmos to spend $7.5Mln studying issues of manned lunar missions

Lockheed Martin, NASA Ink Deal for SkyFire Infrared Lunar Discovery Satellite

As dry as the moon

MARSDAILY
Tiangong 2 is coming soon, real soon

China's newly-launched quantum communication satellite in good shape

China Sends Country's Largest Carrier Rocket to Launch Base

'Heavenly Palace': China to Launch Two Manned Space Missions This Fall

MARSDAILY
US astronauts complete spacewalk for ISS maintenance

Space Station's orbit adjusted Wednesday

Astronauts Relaxing Before Pair of Spaceships Leave

'New port of call' installed at space station

MARSDAILY
New Horizons Spies a Kuiper Belt Companion

Pluto's Methane Snowcaps on the Edge of Darkness

Hunt For Ninth Planet Reveals New Extremely Distant Solar System Objects

Pluto Flyby - A Year Later

MARSDAILY
Methane-Filled Canyons Line Titan's Surface

Rhea Shines Brightly About Saturn

Cassini shares infrared imagery of Saturn clouds

Cassini discovers flooded canyon on Titan

MARSDAILY
China hi-res SAR imaging satellite sends back pictures

China researches high resolution imaging from high orbit

Quest to find the 'missing physics' at play in landslides

FLEX takes on mutants

MARSDAILY
The Deep Space Network

At Berlin tech fair, waterproof gadgets make a splash

Grandpa astronaut breaks US space record

35 years later Voyager's legacy continues at Saturn

MARSDAILY
Discovery one-ups Tatooine, finds twin stars hosting three giant exoplanets

New light on the complex nature of 'hot Jupiter' atmospheres

Could Proxima Centauri b Really Be Habitable

Rocky planet found orbiting habitable zone of nearest star









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news 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. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. 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. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.