NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Update: August 1-7, 2013

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html#opportunity

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Reaches Base of ‘Solander Point’ – sols 3385-3391, Aug. 01, 2013-Aug. 07, 2013:

Opportunity is at the base of ‘Solander Point’ on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover arrived at the edge of Solander Point with a series of drives on Sols 3385 and 3387 (Aug. 1 and Aug. 3, 2013), achieving drive distances of 385 feet (117.4 meters) and 198 feet (60.4 meters), respectively. Later, the rover will drive up onto the point and benefit from the north-facing slope there.

On Sol 3389 (Aug. 5, 2013), Opportunity approached a boulder field with a 54 feet (16.6 meter) drive. Taking advantage of a surface target of opportunity within the robotic arm work volume, the rover performed two-sol ‘Touch ‘n Go’ on Sols 3390 and 3391 (Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, 2013). On the first sol, Opportunity used the robotic arm to collect a Microscopic Imager mosaic of the surface target called ‘Red Poker’ and then place the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer on the target for an overnight integration. On the second sol, the rover drove away, moving 15 feet (4.7 meters) towards another rock target.

As of Sol 3390 (Aug. 6, 2013), the solar array energy production was 385 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.770 and a solar array dust factor of 0.543.

Total odometry is 23.73 miles (38.18 kilometers).