With the winter solstice at hand, Opportunity has been constrained by power and drove only once in the last week.
The project is doing something new, driving Opportunity to solar energy "lily pads," places with a modest northerly tilt. On Sol 2234 (May 7, 2010), Opportunity drove about 15 meters (49 feet) and positioned herself with a slight northerly tilt on a small ripple.
A drive is planned for Sol 2240 (May 13, 2010), to repeat the technique. Opportunity has been staying awake longer, warming her electronics, to avoid relying on power-hungry survival heaters.
This means less energy goes into the batteries for recharging and reducing the amount of driving. Solar energy conditions should start to improve as the winter solstice passes.
As of Sol 2239 (May 12, 2010), solar array energy production was 249 watt-hours, atmospheric opacity (Tau) was 0.314 and the solar panel dust factor was 0.470.
Total odometry is 20,672.90 meters (20.67 kilometers, or 12.85 miles).
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