NASA Mars Rovers Status 21 Mar 2004

Opportunity Status for sol 56 – Try Again to Exit Crater – posted Mar. 21, 5 pm PST

NASA’s Opportunity tried driving uphill out of its landing-site crater
during its 56th sol, ending at 10:05 p.m. March 21, PST, but slippage
prevented success. The rover is healthy, and it later completed a turn to
the right and a short drive along the crater’s inner slope. Controllers
plan to send it on a different route for exiting the crater on sol 57.

Earlier on sol 56, Opportunity successfully examined a patch of soil
dubbed "Brian’s Choice" with its Moessbauer spectrometer, alpha particle
X-ray spectrometer and microscopic imager. Following the drive, it made
observations with its navigation camera and miniature thermal emission
spectrometer. Wake-up music for the sol was "Fly Like an Eagle," by the
Steve Miller Band.