posted 08-16-2007 05:42 PM               

Mars' globe-engulfing dust storm has died down during the past several weeks, but the two robotic rovers on its surface now face the fallout of dust from the thin atmosphere.

Conditions were so bad in early August that just before the launch of the Mars-bound Phoenix spacecraft, rover scientist Mark Lemmon feared the demise of the Opportunity rover.

posted 08-24-2007 01:29 PM               

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Brightening Skies Bolster Opportunity - sol 1256-1265, Aug 23, 2007:

Opportunity is healthy and remains perched near the rim of "Victoria Crater." The rover was on a low-power schedule that alternated between a 3-sol plan and a 4-sol plan.

Tau (atmospheric opacity) has begun to stabilize this week at around 3.7, resulting in solar array energy between 230-240 watt hours. Therefore in the upcoming week, the team will return to nominal planning.

The rover conducted a lot of what engineers call "runout science." This includes: panoramic camera wide-range tau measurements, navigation camera tau measurements, navigation camera cloud measurements, panoramic camera soria (imaging a rough, rocky area near the rover), front hazard avoidance camera images, rear hazard avoidance camera images, navigation camera images, panoramic camera sky spot, panoramic camera dust monitoring on the mast, miniature thermal emission spectrometer target calibration and panoramic camera high-sun surveys.