Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Update: Leaving Marquette Behind

sols 2118-2124, January 7-14, 2010

Opportunity spent Sols 2118 to 2121 (Jan. 7-11, 2010; no sol number corresponds to Jan. 8 because no noon at Opportunity’s location fell during that date’s 24 hours Pacific Standard Time) completing the investigation of “Marquette Island,” a curious rock on the plains of Meridiani. The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) and the microscopic imager (MI) were used to examine a target on Marquette Island which was exposed by the rock abrasion tool (RAT) grind activities the previous week.

Opportunity drove away from Marquette Island on Sol 2122 (Jan. 12, 2010) continuing on the path toward Endeavour Crater. Further drives where executed on Sols 2123 and 2124 (Jan. 13 and 14, 2010). On Sol 2124, Opportunity crossed the 19-kilometer (11.8-mile) odometry milestone! A near-term science objective along the path towards Endeavour Crater is a relatively fresh impact crater, called “Conception,” approximately 250 meters (820 feet) to the south.

As of Sol 2124 (Jan. 14, 2010), Opportunity’s solar-array energy production is 336 watt-hours, with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.500 and a dust factor of 0.533. Total odometry is 19,025.92 meters (11.82 miles).