OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Hoppin' Toward 'Victoria' - sol 785-790, Apr 18, 2006:
Opportunity is in a restricted planning mode this week due to each sol's downlink coming too late in the Earth day to allow planning of a drive for the next sol. The team built three drives this week and Opportunity drove 83.2 meters (273 feet). The general drive direction is southeast to avoid a large dune field due south. As of sol 788, Opportunity was estimated to be 1,557 meters (just under one mile) from "Victoria Crater."
Sol-by-sol summaries:
Sol 785 (April 9, 2006): On sol 785 Opportunity drove 58.9 meters (193 feet) south. After the drive, the panoramic camera and navigation camera made observations in the drive direction. Activities also included atmospheric remote sensing during the afternoon's communication relay session with the Mars Odyssey orbiter.
Sol 786: This sol's activities included a panoramic camera systematic ground survey, panoramic camera imaging of magnets, rearward looking navigation camera imaging, and two sky-and-ground observations with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 787: After targeted pre-drive panoramic camera observations of an outcrop, Opportunity drove 7.5 meters (25 feet) to the top of a dune. Imaging of the new location and atmospheric sensing during the afternoon Odyssey pass followed the drive.
Sol 788: The navigation camera took rearward-looking images for a mosaic. The panoramic camera checked the clarity of the atmosphere and surveyed the ground systematically. In the afternoon, the miniature thermal emission spectrometer made sky-and-ground observations.
Sol 789: Opportunity drove 16.8 meters.
Sol 790 (April 14, 2006): Planned activities included untargeted remote sensing.
As of 789, Opportunity's total odometry was 7,327.53 meters (4.55 miles).
