Opportunity is continuing her winter exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater.
The rover has moved along the north fork of the local flow channel. However, before moving, the rover spent several sols completing stereo, color panoramas and performing some targeted 13-filter imaging.
On Sol 4968 (Jan. 14, 2018), Opportunity drove about 23 feet (7 meters) to the north with the intent of reaching some surface targets for closer investigation.
The sol after the drive, the rover spent recharging the batteries, as it is still winter on Mars.
On Sol 4970 (Jan. 16, 2018), Opportunity benefited from a significant dust cleaning of the solar arrays, which happens this time of year.
As of Sol 4970 (Jan. 16, 2018), the solar array energy production was an increased 525 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.460 and an improved solar array dust factor of 0.760.
Total odometry is 28.02 miles (45.09 kilometers).
Opportunity takes right at the fork and has successful battery test
Opportunity is continuing her winter exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned upstream of a fork in the flow channels. After some deliberation, it was decided to take the northern branch of this fork and on Sol 4958 (Jan. 3, 2018), Opportunity drove about 13 feet (4 meters) in that direction.
The rest of this period was devoted to on … read more
