Opportunity has been navigating through a field of small impact craters on her way to Endeavour crater. Opportunity has has now exceeded 25 kilometers (15 miles) of odometry on the surface of Mars!
The rover spent a few days imaging the interior of Intrepid crater, one of a collection of small impact craters in this area. On Sol 2420 (Nov. 14, 2010), Opportunity departed Intrepid, driving over 116 meters (381 feet) and crossing the 25-kilometer odometry mark. During the drive, the rover collected some mid-drive imaging of Intrepid from a different vantage point.
The Stardust safe-mode entry affected Deep Space Network coverage for the Odyssey orbiter, which delayed the return of some relay data for Opportunity. As of Sol 2422 (Nov. 16, 2010), solar array energy production was 596 watt-hours with a slightly elevated atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.769 and a solar array dust factor of 0.670.
Total odometry is 25,063.18 meters (25.06 kilometers, or 15.57 miles).
Spirit Remains Silent at Troy
Spirit remains silent at her location on the west side of Home Plate. No communication has been received from the rover since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).
The project continues to listen for Spirit with the Deep Space Network and Mars Odyssey orbiter for autonomous recovery communication from the low-power fault case. The project is also conducting a paging technique called "Sweep and Beep" to stimulate the rover in the case of a mission-clock fault.
Total odometry is unchanged at 7,730.50 meters (4.80 miles).
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