Opportunity Status Report: Opportunity is continuing her exploration of “Perseverance Valley” on the west rim of Endeavour Crater.
The rover has moved along the north fork of the local flow channel. Continuing the extensive collection of stereo imagery, the rover used the Navigation Cameras (Navcams) to collect two tiers of a wide panorama. Then on the next sol, the robotic arm (also called the Instrument Deployment Device, or IDD) performed an offset placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to a new target location. The Panoramic Camera (Pancam) was also used to collect several frames of a color stereo panorama.
Over the next four sols, Opportunity collected a combination of Navcam and color Pancam stereo panoramas and some targeted multi-spectral Pancam images. On Sol 4984 (Jan. 30, 2018), the IDD was used again to reach other surface targets and collect Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaics and place the APXS for a multi-hour integration. Energy production has continued to improve due to dust cleaning of the solar arrays… [More at link]