Larry CrumplerJul 29, 2015

Field Report from Mars: Sol 4060 - June 26, 2015

Opportunity is back in communication after the two-week blackout of solar conjunction. We will be cleaning up activities here where Opportunity is sitting on the edge of a feature known as “Spirit of Saint Louis crater.”

Visualization of Opportunity on the edge of Spirit of Saint Louis crater
Visualization of Opportunity on the edge of Spirit of Saint Louis crater Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / NMMNH / Larry Crumpler

Opportunity is sitting astride a contact between the inside and outside of Spirit of Saint Louis crater. The contact zone is red, as though altered at some point. Over the next couple of sols we will “bump” to one of the targets on the right side of the contact. 

Potential targets on the outcrop in Spirit of St. Louis crater
Potential targets on the outcrop in Spirit of St. Louis crater Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / NMMNH / Larry Crumpler

The "darts" in the view above are potential targets on the outcrop that we will have a look at. After looking at the right side we may take a quick look at the left side so that we can characterize the mineralogic changes across the contact, thereby doing what we like to call a “transect”. Then we will be ready to head toward Marathon Valley to the immediate east.

Phobos crossing in front of the Sun, as viewed by Opportunity
Phobos crossing in front of the Sun, as viewed by Opportunity Image: NASA /JPL-Caltech / Cornell / ASU

Yestersol around 2PM local time we did a quick observation of Phobos crossing in front of the sun. This image just came down and was sent around by the Pancam Principal Investigator Jim Bell.

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