Opportunity has been using its robotic arm (instrument deployment device, or IDD) to conduct a contact science investigation of small pebbles located on exposed rock outcrop.
On Sol 1881 (May 9, 2009), Opportunity took a special image with the microscopic imager of the left-front wheel. This tested a technique that might be used by Spirit to assess the state of Spirit's embedded wheels.
The alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) was positioned on a pebble target for an overnight integration.
On the next sol, the APXS was moved to a new target. On Sol 1884 (May 12, 2009), the rover backed away from these targets and then moved about 6 meters (20 feet) into a new position for more IDD work.
The right-front wheel, which had shown elevated motor currents, exhibited improvement in the current levels after resting at these contact-science targets.
As of Sol 1884 (May 12, 2009), Opportunity's solar array energy production was 460 watt-hours, with atmospheric opacity (tau) around 0.732 and the dust factor at 0.581.
Opportunity's total odometry as of Sol 1885 (May 13, 2009) is 15,908.93 meters (9.89 miles).
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