Blogs
Blog Archive
Posted by Larry Crumpler on 2012/10/23 11:27 CDT
We on the MER Opportunity science team are currently doing an “outcrop walk” with Opportunity on the slopes of Cape York, a small residual part of the rim on the 20+ km diameter Endeavour Crater, Mars.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Finds Thrill of Newberries on Matijevic Hill
Sols 3060 - 3088
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/10/03 01:58 CDT | 1 comments
On reconnaissance of Matijevic Hill, Opportunity has driven right into another Martian mystery, compete with new kinds of “berries," tiny white veins running through two distinctive outcrops of rock, and orbital data indicating that somewhere here clay minerals are hiding, all of which has put the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission back in the science spotlight and made for another September to remember at Meridiani Planum.
What's Up in the Solar System in October 2012
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/28 05:27 CDT | 2 comments
Welcome to my monthly survey of the activities of robots across the solar system! Tomorrow is the equinox at Mars; both Curiosity and Opportunity will be spending the month actively analyzing Martian rocks. It'll be a less active month for Cassini, as Saturn passes through solar conjunction late next month.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Greets Curiosity, Roves to Clay Mineral Hunting Grounds
Sols 3029 - 3058
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/09/10 02:07 CDT
Opportunity stood down for nine days in early August as Curiosity landed and went through check-out, but on the tenth day the Mars Exploration Rover was back on the road, driving along the northwestern rim of Endeavour Crater and into the "sweet spot" of the clay mineral hunting ground at Cape York.
Outcrop Ahead for Opportunity!
Posted by Stuart Atkinson on 2012/09/07 01:12 CDT | 1 comments
Oppy is opening an exciting new chapter in her adventure at Cape York. Having driven down to, over and past Whim Creek, she has now explored halfway down Cape York, to a promising fin-like ridge of dark rock.
Pretty picture: bizarre spherules
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/06 04:25 CDT | 5 comments
A wonderfully strange photo from Opportunity's exploration of Cape York, Endeavour Crater.
What's up in the Solar System in August 2012
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/08/03 06:03 CDT
Welcome to the monthly roundup of our solar system's envoy of electronic explorers! All eyes are on Curiosity as it approaches Mars this weekend. Who will lend support at the Red Planet?
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Works on a Whim, Team to Stand Down for Curiosity
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/08/03 02:29 CDT | 1 comments
Opportunity roved on to new targets near the rim of Endeavour Crater in July, as the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) team prepared to stand down for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity
Pretty Panoramas: Opportunity at Whim Creek
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/07/30 01:11 CDT | 2 comments
I know it’s been all Curiosity, all the time on this blog for the last couple of weeks, and that’s not likely to change much for the next couple of weeks. But I don’t want people to forget that there’s another rover exploring Mars’ ancient geology. Opportunity has been taking spectacular photos of Whim Creek and Endeavour Crater this last week.
Posted by Andrew Chaikin on 2012/07/18 04:11 CDT | 3 comments
Chaikin interviews Mars scientist Nathalie Cabrol who talks about her passion for exploration and urges America to explore even in tough economic times.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Digs Cape York, Roves to New Milestone
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/07/04 01:57 CDT | 3 comments
Even robots deserve a break once in a while, and when the Mars Odyssey orbiter went into safe mode in June, Opportunity got the chance to hang out and leisurely take in her surroundings at the Red Planet, while the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission downshifted into lower gear.
Posted by Stuart Atkinson on 2012/07/02 11:18 CDT
Earlier today, unnoticed by the vast majority of the world, Opportunity reached and then silently passed a major milestone in her great adventure on Mars. At just before 3am, UK time, Opportunity began her 3000th sol, or martian day, on Mars.
Notes from a Red Planet: Ray Bradbury
Posted by Scott Maxwell on 2012/06/06 11:49 CDT | 2 comments
Mars rover driver Scott Maxwell relates a story of how he handed Ray Bradbury an opportunity to drive on Mars.
Posted by Stuart Atkinson on 2012/06/05 10:00 CDT
Since you last visited, Opportunity has continued to drive downhill – well, what passes for ‘downhill’ on Cape York! – and is now not far at all from the northern edge of the Cape. From where she is now she sees the Meridiani desert stretching away to the north and west, the eastern hills on her right, and the Cape itself behind her. And around her? lots and lots of Homestake-like gypsum veins.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Departs Winter Site for Field of Veins
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/06/02 05:43 CDT
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity strolled out of her winter haven this May to continue the expedition around Endeavour Crater, roving into yet another Martian spring.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/14 03:02 CDT | 5 comments
I took a field trip to watch scientists and engineers play in the sand with Mars rover models, and got a bonus tour of some evidence for the "Snowball Earth" hypothesis.
Posted by Stuart Atkinson on 2012/05/14 12:42 CDT | 2 comments
After driving off Greeley Haven – where she stood patiently for 19 long weeks – Opportunity is now driving again. Not just turning, not just bumping, but driving.
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/05/03 10:06 CDT
As winter began to retreat in the southern hemisphere of the Red Planet, Opportunity was commanded to finish up her science assignments in April in preparation for leaving its refuge, and the Mars Exploration Rover mission rolled through its 100th month of exploration.
An update on Opportunity, and a plea for some volunteer desktop publishing help
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/04/03 05:00 CDT | 2 comments
A. J. S. Rayl has just posted her monthly update on the goings-on at Meridiani planum, noting that the update recaps the 99th month of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. There's a lot of detail on how the radio-tracking campaign is going. While she's not driving, Opportunity's acting like a lander, with radio antennas on Earth performing Doppler tracking to allow very fine measurement of Mars' orbital motion.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Gets Energy Boost and Works Through Depths of Winter
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2012/03/31 05:40 CDT
March came in like a lion and went out like a lamb at Meridiani Planum, Mars: Opportunity felt the cold wind on her solar panels, then "settled" in a little more, working through the depths of its fifth Martian winter, as the team honored one of its own up there, and the Mars Exploration Rover mission logged month number 99 of exploration.
Connect With Us
Facebook! Twitter! Google+ and more…
Continue the conversation with our online community!
