Mars Rover Opportunity Update: Opportunity Spent Holiday at ‘Turkey Haven’

sols 2784-2790, November 23-29, 2011:

Opportunity spent the Thanksgiving holiday at a location called “Turkey Haven,” on the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater.

This particular location provided favorable northerly tilts and may be a candidate for the winter haven location. On Sol 2787 (Nov. 26, 2011), the rover employed the robotic arm to collect some Microscopic Imager (MI) images of a surface target and then collect an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) measurement on the same.

On Sol 2790 (Nov. 29, 2011), Opportunity left “Turkey Haven” on a 12-meter (39-foot) drive to position herself near the other candidate winter haven for a closer look. The near term plan is for Opportunity to nudge around the new location and inspect the terrain for possible winter science targets and favorable tilts.

As of Sol 2790 (Nov. 29, 2011), solar array energy production was 292 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.770 and a solar array dust factor of 0.488.

Total odometry is 21.35 miles (34,354.92 meters, or 34.35 kilometers).