MER-2 "Opportunity"

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sols 3118-3124, Oct. 31, 2012-Nov. 6, 2012: More Driving And Imaging At 'Matijevic Hill'
 
Opportunity is continuing the local area survey around the location called Matijevic Hill (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater.
The rover performed three survey drives on Sols 3119, 3121 and 3124 (Nov. 1, 3 and 6, 2012), driving 125 feet (38 meters) south-southeast, 82 feet (25 meters) south-southeast, and 98 feet (30 meters) south, respectively.
Each drive was preceded by the collection of targeted imagery and then followed by taking a 360-degree Navigation camera (Navcam) panorama. Two direct-to-earth (DTE) X-band sessions where supported on Sols 3120 and 3122 (Nov. 2 and 4, 2012), and an atmospheric argon measurement with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) was performed on Sol 3122 (Nov. 4, 2012).
The project also implemented a new daily nadir check sequence. This new sequence significantly reduces the number of power cycles on the rover's inertial measurement unit (IMU). For the next week the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be providing exclusive Ultra High Frequency relay support during the Mars Odyssey side-swap campaign.
As of Sol 3124 (Nov. 6, 2012), the solar array energy production was 586 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.605 and a solar array dust factor of 0.604.
Total odometry is 21.96 miles (35,345.23 meters).

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol3118

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sols 3125-3132, Nov. 7, 2012-Nov. 14, 2012: Survey At 'Matijevic Hill' Wrapping Up
 
Opportunity is nearing the completion of the local area survey around the location called "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater.
The rover performed three survey drives on Sols 3128, 3131 and 3132 (Nov. 10, 13 and 14, 2012), driving 113 feet (34.5 meters), 52 feet (16 meters), and 28 feet (8.5 meters), respectively.  Each drive was preceded by the collection of targeted imagery, and then followed by taking a 360-degree Navigation camera (Navcam) panorama.
On Sol 3126 (Nov. 8, 2012), the rover used the robotic arm to image the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) bit and to collect a set of Microscopic Imager (MI) "sky flat" calibration images.  An atmospheric argon measurement with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) was performed on Sol 3129 (Nov. 11, 2012).  The Mars Odyssey avionics side-swap was successful with the first relay pass with Opportunity on Sol 3129 (Nov. 11, 2012).  The relay pass using the new Side-B transceiver on Odyssey was nominal.
As of Sol 3131 (Nov. 13, 2012), the solar array energy production was 596 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.589 and a solar array dust factor of 0.606.
 Total odometry is 22 miles (35,404.20 meters).

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol3125

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Интересный слой на камне

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sols 3133-3136, Nov. 15, 2012-Nov. 19, 2012: 'Matijevic Hill' Survey Complete And Rover Passes 22 Miles Of Driving!
 
Opportunity has completed the local area survey around the location called "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater.
Now, the rover is focusing on conducting an in-situ (contact) science campaign on some high-value surface targets. The rover drove 81 feet (24.6 meters) on Sol 3133 (Nov. 15, 2012), approaching a candidate surface target. Opportunity bumped into position for some robotic arm work with a 31-inch (80-centimeter) forward move on Sol 3135 (Nov. 18. 2012).
On Sol 3133 (Nov. 15, 2012), the rover began to detect an increase in atmospheric opacity (Tau). Coincident with that the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) team on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) observed a large regional dust storm, with high atmospheric opacity in the center of the storm, heading in the direction of the rover. The project remained vigilant over the weekend. Fortunately, the storm passed to the south of the rover, but Opportunity continues to see an increase in atmospheric dust.
As of Sol 3136 (Nov. 19, 2012), the solar array energy production was 539 watt-hours with an increased atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.897 and a solar array dust factor of 0.612.
Total odometry is 22 miles (35,429.63 meters).

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol3133

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Цвет не настоящий...

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Изображение большое

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Ждемс поздний вечер 04.12.2012

http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum11/topic11342/message1011053/#message1011053
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/agu/nasa-agu-briefings-2012.html

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sols 3137-3145, Nov. 19, 2012-Nov. 28, 2012: Opportunity Gets To Work On Interesting Rock Targets
 
Opportunity, after completing the local area survey around the location called "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater, has started conducting an in-situ (contact) science campaign on some high-value surface targets.
On Sol 3137 (Nov. 19, 2012), Opportunity began her in-situ investigation on the surface target, called "Sandcherry" with a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic, followed by the placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS).
 The plan on Sol 3139 (Nov. 22, 2012), was the use the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) to brush the target. However, the robotic arm experienced a stall in the shoulder elevation joint and stopped all further robotic arm activity. The sequenced APXS measurement on Sol 3140 (Nov. 23, 2012), then fortuitously became an atmospheric argon measurement. The joint stall had been experienced before with Opportunity when slow moves are commanded as in this instance. However, the engineering team did review all the associated telemetry and found no indication of any change in the health of the joint.
As a further step, a diagnostic move was included at the start of the plan on Sol 3144 (Nov. 27, 2012). That diagnostic showed a nominally functioning joint. The subsequent activity on Sol 3144 (Nov. 27, 2012), included a successful RAT brushing of the target followed by a MI mosaic and placement of the APXS. Also, over the last several sols, the rover has been collecting an extensive color panorama (Pancam), called the "Matijevic pan."
As of Sol 3145 (Nov. 28, 2012), the solar array energy production was 559 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.793 and a solar array dust factor of 0.608.
Total odometry is 22.01 miles (35,429.63 meters).

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol3137

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NASA Opportunity Rover Does Walkabout of Crater Rim


  PASADENA, Calif. - The latest work assignment for NASA's long-lived Mars rover Opportunity is a further examination of an area where the robot just completed a walkabout.
 "If you are a geologist studying a site like this, one of the first things you do is walk the outcrop, and that's what we've done with Opportunity," said Steve Squyres, the mission's principal investigator at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
 Coming up on its ninth anniversary, Opportunity still is a capable robotic explorer. It has been investigating a crater-rim site where observations from orbiting Mars spacecraft detected traces of clay minerals, which form under wet, non-acidic conditions that can be favorable for life. The rover's current activities were presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
 The rover team chose this site as a driving destination years earlier. The site is named Matijevic Hill in honor of the late Jacob Matijevic, who led the engineering team for the twin Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity for several years.
 Opportunity drove about 1,160 feet (354 meters) in a counterclockwise circuit around Matijevic Hill in October and November, bringing the total miles driven on the mission to 22 miles (35.4 kilometers). Researchers used the rover to survey the extent of Matijevic Hill outcrops and identify the best places to investigate further.
 "We've got a list of questions posed by the observations so far," Squyres said. "We did this walkabout to determine the most efficient use of time to answer the questions. Now we have a good idea what we're dealing with, and we're ready to start the detailed work."
 The hill is on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, a bowl 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. An impact from a celestial object dug this crater more than 3 billion years ago, pushing rocks onto the rim from a greater depth than Opportunity reached during its first several years on Mars. Since the impact, those rocks may have been altered by environmental conditions. Sorting out the relative ages of local outcrops is a key to understanding the area's environmental history.
 "Almost nine years into a mission planned to last for three months, Opportunity is fit and ready for driving, robotic-arm operations and communication with Earth," said the mission's deputy project scientist, Diana Blaney, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
 Two outcrops of high interest on Matijevic Hill are "Whitewater Lake" and "Kirkwood." Whitewater Lake is light-toned material that science team members believe may contain clay. Kirkwood contains small spheres with composition, structure and distribution that differ from other iron-rich spherules, nicknamed blueberries, that Opportunity found at its landing site and throughout the Meridiani Planum area it has explored. Squyres calls the Kirkwood spheres "newberries."
 "We don't know yet whether Whitewood Lake and Kirkwood are from before or after the crater formed," he said. "One of the most important things to work out is the order and position of the rock layers to tell us the relative ages. We also need more work on the composition of Whitewater and debris shed by Whitewater to understand the clay signature seen from orbit, and on the composition of the newberries to understand how they formed."
 NASA launched Spirit and Opportunity in 2003. Both completed their three-month prime missions in April 2004 with Spirit ceasing operations in 2010. The mission's goal is to learn about the history of wet environments on ancient Mars. JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
 For more information about Opportunity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers .
 You can follow the project on Twitter and on Facebook at: http://twitter.com/MarsRovers and http://www.facebook.com/mars.rovers .
 JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20121204.html

[ValeriySP]

http://science.compulenta.ru/725825/, 05 декабря 2012 года, 11:51

Opportunity завершил обход области на краю марсианского кратера

Маршрут Opportunity вокруг возвышения Матиевик-хилл (изображение НАСА).

Марсоход-долгожитель Opportunity получил новое задание — в деталях изучить тот район, обход которого он только что завершил.
 
 «Если бы там оказался геолог, то первым делом он обошёл бы заинтересовавшее его обнажение породы; именно это и проделал Opportunity», — поясняет главный исследователь проекта Стив Сквайрс из Корнеллского университета (США).
Несмотря на приближающуюся девятую годовщину работы на Красной планете (25 января), Opportunity остаётся на ходу. Он исследует край кратера, где наблюдения с орбиты позволили обнаружить следы глинистых минералов, образующихся во влажных, некислых условиях, которые могут быть благоприятными для жизни.
 
 Операторы выбрали это место в качестве пункта назначения несколько лет назад. Оно называется Матиевик-хилл — в честь покойного Джейкоба Матиевика, который в течение нескольких лет руководил командой инженеров, обслуживающей марсоходы-близнецы «Спирит» и «Оппортьюнити».
 
 Ровер проехал примерно 354 м против часовой стрелки вокруг холма в октябре и ноябре, в результате чего общий пробег аппарата достиг 35,4 км. Это позволило специалистам выявить лучшие места для дальнейшего изучения. «Наблюдения поставили перед нами целый ряд вопросов, — говорит г-н Сквайрс. — Мы совершили этот поход, чтобы определить, как можно было бы максимально эффективно использовать отпущенное нам время для поиска ответов. Теперь мы хорошо понимаем, с чем имеем дело, и готовы приступить к детальному исследованию».
 
 Холм находится на западном краю кратера Индевор диаметром 22 км. Удар какого-то небесного тела «выкопал» эту чашу более 3 млрд лет назад, выбросив породу с огромной глубины. С момента воздействия эти скалы, возможно, изменились под влиянием окружающей среды. Если разобраться в относительном возрасте местных обнажений, то можно найти ключ к пониманию экологической истории этой области.
 
 Обнажения, которые вызвали особый интерес, названы Уайтуотер-лейком и Кёрквудом. Первое содержит светлый материал, в котором, по мнению учёных, может быть глина. Второе имеет маленькие шарики, отличающиеся составом, структурой и распределением от богатых железом микросфер («голубики»), которые Opportunity нашёл в месте своей посадки, а также повсюду на плато Меридиана.
 
 Отчёт о текущей деятельности ровера был представлен на заседании Американского геофизического союза в Сан-Франциско.
 
 Подготовлено по материалам Лаборатории реактивного движения НАСА.

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Камнеология продолжается

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYtkTbF5gRs&feature=player_embedded#
 
О Марсе

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From review of the literature and observations of the stratigraphy at the site, most likely the "spherules of unknown affinity" arre an impact spherules...