Monthly Archives: May 2011

Oppy has been taking a good close look at an exposed plate of light rock she’s found on her way to Endeavour crater. This rock, christened “Valdivia” by the MER team, is criss-crossed and etched with small, shallow lines which … Continue reading →

On Sol 2597 – that would be Sunday, May 15th in Terran terms! – Oppy took a whole bunch of images of the Sun setting. By linking these together in a simple animation program it’s possible to make a short … Continue reading →

It looks like Oppy is going to stop for a couple of sols and do some science on a small outcrop, which I think has been called “Valdivia” by the MER team. Front hazcam views show her positioning her robot … Continue reading →

Back in September 2010 (wow, was it really that long ago?!?!?!) Oppy came across a rusted, wind-etched chunk of iron, standing on the Meridiani plain like an ancient martian sculpture – a meteorite (above). It was christened “Oilean Ruaidh”, and … Continue reading →

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few days you’ll have heard that the Mars Exploration Rover mission is now officially a single rover mission – NASA has stopped sending signals to Spirit, and from now on … Continue reading →

With 29 km behind her, and Cape York now less – considerably less, in fact – than 4km away, it’s tempting to assume that Opportunity’s landfall on that rocky ‘island’ is a done deal, to tell ourselves that we’re practically … Continue reading →

Oppy just keeps driving and driving. Although I thought she might linger at Skylab crater for a couple of days to examine some of the intriguing-looking rocks there she just scooted right on past, and is now heading for the … Continue reading →

Oppy has now reached Skylab crater… …and it’s a bit of a beauty! Here’s a slightly clearer, less distorted view… …and a 3D view… Looks like a lot of interesting rocks and features here, so I won’t be too amazed … Continue reading →

Another good drive from Oppy, and she is now very close to that bright-rimmed crater we’ve seen growing larger ahead of us for the past few days… and that crater now has a name: Skylab… Here’s the wider angle view… … Continue reading →

I wrote this a little while ago but thought it was a good time to post it now, as Oppy has just passed the 29km mark. Hope some of you enjoy it! New MER astropoem – “Endeavour Dawn“