Spirit's flash memory in use again; Opportunity approaching 'Marquette Island'

The project was successful in reformatting Spirit's on-board flash memory file system on Sol 2083 (Nov. 11, 2009). The rover is now again using the non-volatile flash file system for telemetry storage.

On Sol 2078 (Nov. 6, 2009), Spirit straightened her wheels in preparation for the first straight-ahead extrication drive, currently planned for Sol 2088 (Nov. 17, 2009). Spirit also collected another microscopic imager (MI) mosaic of the rover underbelly on Sol 2081 (Nov. 9, 2009).

As of Sol 2082 (Nov. 10, 2009), Spirit's solar-array energy production was 368 watt-hours, with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.569 and a dust factor of 0.5995. Total odometry remains at 7,729.97 meters (4.80 miles).

The red line tracks the 18.8 kilometers (11.7 miles) that Opportunity traveled from where it landed in January 2004 to its position 2,955 Martian days, or sols, later, on Nov. 4, 2009. The rover landed inside Eagle Crater and spent about half of its first year examining layers inside Victoria Crater before embarking on a long trek to the larger Victoria Crater, which is explored for two years. Now, Opportunity's next major destination is a crater called Endeavour, which is about 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter. The rover has been examining meteorites and other features encountered along its path. The northwestern portion of Endeavour is included in this map. The map's scale bar is 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Ohio State University/University of Arizona

Opportunity is still heading south before the turn east to head toward Endeavour Crater. The right front wheel is exhibiting elevated motor currents. So, the plan is to find a place to stop and rest the actuator while conducting some some contact science.

On Sol 2058 (Nov. 7, 2009), the rover began a 15-meter (49-foot) approach to a candidate rock target called "Marquette Island." On Sol 2061 (Nov. 10, 2009), Opportunity bumped about 4 meters (13 feet) to position Marquette Island within the work volume of the rover's robotic arm (instrument deployment device, or IDD). The rover continues to command 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 2062 (Nov. 11, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production was 400 watt-hours, with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.486 and a dust factor of 0.531. Total odometry was 18,905.90 meters (11.75 miles).

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
	More on • Spirit • Opportunity • Mars Exploration Rovers • Mars