NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Update – June 7-15, 2013

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Recovery from Another Flash-Related Reset – sols 3331-3339, Jun. 07, 2013-Jun. 15, 2013:

On sols 3332 and 3333 (June and June 9, 2013) , Opportunity performed a ‘touch ‘n go’ two-sol plan, using the robotic arm on the first sol to take Microscopic Imager (MI) images and position the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) for an overnight integration, followed by a drive on the second sol. The rover drove on sols 3333 and 3335 (June 9 and June 11, 2013), totaling over 216 feet (over 65 meters).

Opportunity experienced a warm reset on Sol 3336 (June 12, 2013) due to the type of flash-memory issue also experienced on Sol 3235 (Feb. 28, 2013). The rover put itself into precautionary automode in response to the reset. On Sol 3339 (June 15, 2013), Opportunity was restored to sequence control — carrying out commands sent from the operations team — and drove 246 feet (75 meters). The rover is in good health.

As of Sol 3336 (June 12, 2013), the solar array energy production was 517 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.829 and a solar array dust factor of 0.645.

Total odometry as of Sol 3339 (June 15, 2013) is 22.83 miles (36.75 kilometers).