Tag Archives: Opportunity

Opportunity Field Report, March 2, 2018

Posted on March 2, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 5013, March 2, 2018: Rover Field Report by Larry Crumpler, MER Science Team & New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science: During the last week of February, 2018, on Sol 4999 since landing on Mars (14 years ago), … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Opportunity: Context for a crushed (?) rock

Posted on February 28, 2018 by rburnham

Sols 5003 and 5011, February 19 and 27, 2018. The view above by the Navcam provides context for a small area where it appears a rock was crushed by the rover wheels. This area was imaged earlier by Pancam (false-color … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

NASA Mars Report, February 26, 2018

Posted on February 27, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Curiosity finds crystals, Opportunity celebrates her 5,000th day on Mars, and the MarCO smallsats get solar arrays. [More at link]

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Opportunity: Microscopic Imager shoots a rover selfie to commemorate Sol 5000

Posted on February 21, 2018 by rburnham

Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist R. Aileen Yingst was in the driver’s seat Feb. 15 directing the science activities for NASA’s Opportunity Rover as it spent its 5,000th day exploring the Martian surface. Yingst served as Science Operations Working Group … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Opportunity: Wheel tracks in false color

Posted on February 20, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 5003, February 19, 2018. After driving Opportunity upslope and away from Nueva Vizcaya, rover controllers turned the Pancam back on the rover’s tracks (above). The tracks’ tint in this false-color view (by Holger Isenberg) shows that disturbing the surface … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

5,000 days on Mars

Posted on February 16, 2018 by rburnham

The Sun will rise on NASA’s solar-powered Mars rover Opportunity for the 5,000th time on Saturday, sending rays of energy to a golf-cart-size robotic field geologist that continues to provide revelations about the Red Planet. “Five thousand sols after the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Opportunity: ‘Rock stripes’ and other surprises

Posted on February 16, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity keeps providing surprises about the Red Planet, most recently with observations of possible “rock stripes.” The ground texture seen in recent images from the rover resembles a smudged version of very distinctive stone stripes on … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Opportunity: Driving south-southwest

Posted on February 14, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 4997, February 13, 2018. After studying the rock Nueva Vizcaya, Opportunity drove 15 meters (about 50 feet) to the south-southwest, as mission planners head for the next area of interest in Perseverance Valley. Above is the Navcam view downslope … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Opportunity: Closeup on Nueva Vizcaya

Posted on February 13, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 4994, February 10, 2018. The Microscopic Imager moved in on a target dubbed Nueva Vizcaya, and “papered” the outcrop with a set of images. This rock surface appears to be etched and eroded by wind-blown sand particles. At right … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Etched terrain in Meridiani Planum

Posted on February 9, 2018 by rburnham

Etched terrain in Meridiani Planum. Meridiani Planum is a plain located 2 degrees south of Mars’ equator, and the region itself is home to the rover Opportunity. (Altitude: 271 km.) Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off