* Astronomy

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Continues Survey from Rim of 'Victoria Crater' - sol 1038-1042, January 02, 2007:

Opportunity remains healthy after completing a drive to a cobble nicknamed "Santa Catarina" on the way to the "Bay of Toil" at "Victoria Crater." During the holiday break on Earth, Opportunity completed a campaign of scientific study of a rock target called "Rio De Janeiro" before driving away on Sol 1039 (Dec. 26, 2006). Opportunity's next activity was to begin the drive around the Bay of Toil toward "Cape Desire," the next promontory clockwise around Victoria's rim.

Sol-by-sol summary:

Sol 1038 (Dec. 25, 2006): Opportunity acquired data from Rio de Janeiro using the Mössbauer spectrometer, acquired images of cobbles in the vicinity using the panoramic camera, and monitored the rover mast for dust accumulation.

Sol 1039 : Opportunity drove about 20 metres to the east toward the Bay of Toil.

Sol 1040 : Opportunity studied the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and scanned the sky with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1041 : Opportunity drove approximately 10 metres east to Santa Catarina, then updated measurements of the rover's current position.

Sol 1042 (Dec. 29, 2006): Opportunity acquired panoramic camera images and miniature thermal emission spectrometer scans of the area immediately in front of the rover and then surveyed a broader portion of the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Odometry:
As of sol 1042 (Dec. 29, 2006), Opportunity's total odometry was 9,793 metres.

-- Edited by Blobrana at 19:23, 2007-01-03

As part of its investigation of "Victoria Crater," NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined a promontory called "Cape Verde" from the vantage point of "Cape St. Mary," the next promontory clockwise around the crater's deeply scalloped rim. This view of Cape Verde combines several exposures taken by the rover's panoramic camera into a false-colour mosaic. The exposures were taken during late-morning lighting conditions.

View of 'Cape Verde' from 'Cape St. Mary' in Late Morning (False Colour)


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Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

The upper portion of the crater wall contains a jumble of material tossed outward by the impact that excavated the crater. This vertical cross-section through the blanket of ejected material surrounding the crater was exposed by erosion that expanded the crater outward from its original diameter, according to scientists' interpretation of the observations. Below the jumbled material in the upper part of the wall are layers that survive relatively intact from before the crater-causing impact.
The images combined into this mosaic were taken during the 1,006th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's Mars-surface mission (Nov. 22, 2006). The panoramic camera took them through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The false colour enhances subtle colour differences among materials in the rocks and soils of the scene.

Image taken by the Opportunity rover on Sol 1037.


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Credit NASA

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Continues to Look for Entry Point into 'Victoria Crater' - sol 1029-1037, December 22, 2006:

Opportunity is healthy and continues to gather data in search of a potential future entry point into "Victoria Crater." The rover is traversing the crater rim near an alcove known as "Bottomless Bay," assessing whether it might eventually serve as an entry point, and collecting images of the crater's interior cliffs.
On Dec. 17, 2006, the rover's 1030th sol, or Martian day on Mars, Opportunity began testing software to enable autonomous placement of the robotic arm and scientific instruments on targets of scientific interest.
Between sols 1029 (Dec. 16, 2006) and 1034 (Dec. 21, 2006), Opportunity drove 41 metres.

Sol-by-sol summary:

Sol 1029 (Dec. 16, 2006): Opportunity measured atmospheric dust, acquired navigation camera and panoramic camera images of Bottomless Bay, scanned the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and acquired panoramic images of points of scientific interest known as "Malua," "Timor" and "Cebu."

Sol 1030: Opportunity measured atmospheric dust, performed step No. 3 of the autonomous placement sequence for the robotic arm, acquired forward-looking images following the day's drive, scanned the sky for clouds with the navigation camera, and surveyed the sky, ground, and external calibration target using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1031: Opportunity measured atmospheric dust, scanned the sky for clouds, and surveyed the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1032: Following the day's drive, Opportunity acquired images of the surrounding area, including rearward-looking views, using the navigation camera. Opportunity measured atmospheric dust and surveyed the horizon with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1033: Opportunity measured atmospheric dust, performed step No. 2 of the sequence for autonomous placement of the robotic arm, surveyed the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and acquired panoramic camera images looking southwest at Bottomless Bay.

Sol 1034: Following another day's drive, Opportunity acquired rearward-looking and forward-looking images of surrounding terrain using the navigation camera. Opportunity measured atmospheric dust, surveyed the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and acquired images of the sky using the panoramic camera.

Sol 1035: Plans call for Opportunity to measure atmospheric dust, use the rock abrasion tool to brush the surface of a rock target known as "Rio de Janeiro," and acquire post-brush microscopic images of the dust-free surface. The rover is then to collect data about the rock using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, survey the sky at high sun using the panoramic camera, and scan the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1036: Plans call for Opportunity to measure atmospheric dust and acquire a full-colour, 13-filter mosaic of Rio de Janeiro using the panoramic camera and to study the outcrop with the Mössbauer spectrometer. The rover is instructed to scan the sky, ground, and points of scientific interest known as "Catalonia," "Valencia," Andalucia," "Aragon," "Asturia," "Cantabria" and "Basque," as well as the rover's external calibration target, using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1037 (Dec. 24, 2006): Plans call for Opportunity to measure atmospheric dust and acquire a full-colour, 13-filter mosaic of Bottomless Bay using the panoramic camera. Opportunity is to survey the sky, ground, external calibration target, and scientific targets nicknamed "Murcia," "Navarra," "Catalonia" and "Valencia" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and to scan the sky for clouds.

Odometry:
As of sol 1034 (Dec. 21, 2006), Opportunity's total odometry was 9,758 metres.