Opportunity takes a new picture from on top of a hill

Tom Kalbfus · 2015-01-23 18:53:05

A shot of the Endeavour Crater taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. (Click to enlarge.)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.

On Sunday, NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity will mark its 11-year anniversary on the Red Planet. To celebrate -- as only a Mars rover can -- it has used its Pancam (fancy name for its panoramic camera) to snap this wide view from atop "Cape Tribulation," a part of Endeavour Crater's rim that sits at a height of 440 feet. That's 80 percent of the height of the Washington Monument, NASA says.

The photo was taken on January 6 and released by NASA Thursday. The rover is now at the highest elevation it's been since leaving the Victoria Crater area in 2008.

Opportunity's original mission on Mars was only to last three months, so the NASA folks feel pretty good about getting over 10 years more use out of the little beast. "During that prime mission and for more than a decade of bonus performance in extended missions, Opportunity has returned compelling evidence about wet environments on ancient Mars," NASA said in a statement about the anniversary.

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If you look closely at the right side of the image, you'll see an American flag, which got in the shot after Opportunity purposefully held out its robotic arm. "The flag is printed on the aluminum cable guard of the rover's rock abrasion tool, which is used for grinding away weathered rock surfaces to expose fresh interior material for examination," NASA said.

The flag is meant as a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, as the aluminum on which it's printed came from the wreckage of the twin towers. "Workers at Honeybee Robotics in lower Manhattan, less than a mile from the World Trade Center, were making the rock abrasion tool for Opportunity and NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, in September 2001," the space agency said.

Opportunity has traveled more than 25.8 miles since starting its career on Mars on January 25, 2004. Next, it will head south along Endeavor's rim to a location called "Marathon Valley" -- a spot where water-related minerals have been spied from orbit. "That site's informal name comes from the calculation that Opportunity will have completed a marathon-footrace's distance of driving (26.2 miles, or 42.2 kilometers) by the time the rover gets there," according to the Jet Propulsion Lab's (JPL) website.

The little rover that could is currently having a problem with its flash memory storage. NASA scientists have developed a workaround for the time being and are working on "a software remedy to restore its usability."

Last edited by Tom Kalbfus (2015-01-23 18:54:27)

SpaceNut · 2015-01-23 21:45:52

It is a great shot to say the least but as great is the little rover that could is still ticking 11 years later is astonding....

Tom Kalbfus · 2015-01-23 23:06:53

Hard to tell how high up one is by looking at this picture. There are no trees or anything else to give a sense of scale. This is all an astronaut would ever see except for artifacts of man, during his entire stay on Mars. Martian landscape varies by contour, but it is all desert, with some ice to break the monotony if one happens to visit the poles. I'll bet astronauts are going to get awfully tired of seeing this color after a while. I am looking forward to the movie The Martian by the way. Imagine being stranded on this planet all alone! That is what the Martian is about, and attempts to get rescued from it. The other things you would see are the small sun, the tiny Martian moons and the fabulous night sky full of untwinkling stars and asteroids moving against this background. A blue evening or morning star may sometimes be observed as well.

SpaceNut · 2015-02-22 19:31:00

Latest Drive Puts Rover Within Marathon-Distance Record

Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater heading towards "Marathon Valley," a putative location for abundant clay minerals now only about 656 feet (200 meters) away.
As of Sol 3927 (Feb. 9, 2015), the solar array energy production was 479 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.824 and a solar array dust factor of 0.606.
Total odometry is 26.11 miles (42 kilometers).

Opportunity Gets Small Energy Boost With Panel Dust Off

Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater heading towards "Marathon Valley," a putative location for abundant clay minerals now only about 492 feet (150 meters) away.
The project is preparing to mask off the troubled Bank 7 sector of the Flash file system with a new version of the flight software to be uploaded shortly.
As of Sol 3936 (Feb. 18, 2015), the solar array energy production was 559 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.816 and an improved solar array dust factor of 0.695.
Total odometry is 26.13 miles (42.05 kilometers).

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#1 2015-01-23 18:53:05

Opportunity takes a new picture from on top of a hill

#2 2015-01-23 21:45:52

Re: Opportunity takes a new picture from on top of a hill

#3 2015-01-23 23:06:53

Re: Opportunity takes a new picture from on top of a hill

#4 2015-02-22 19:31:00

Re: Opportunity takes a new picture from on top of a hill

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