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Opportunity gets dust cleaning and passes 45 kilometers of driving

by Staff Writers Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 23, 2018 JPL
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).

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