National Aeronautics and Space Administration

“ The dust offered no resistance.
Ken: There's actually very little dust, maybe just a few microns. Almost completely removed except for little hollows. Little clumps of dust around the edges. It does look like it's sticking together but not strong enough to keep it from being brushed away rather easily.
Q. Big picture? will you be able to get into the ejecta blanket and get to Bonneville?
Jennifer: We finish RATting today and start driving tomorrow, best case. We're on west southwest side of the lander so we're gonna drive around the lander and head northeast. We do believe we can get there. ”

“ Then we'll start an arc along the bottom of the outcrop stopping at choice viewing areas and taking pictures plus dropping the arm down at a few places and taking additional data. Opportunity's in good shape. She's healthy and happy and continuing to do the job she was sent to do.
Q. Software problem similar in a way to what plagued Polar Lander in that you didn't test long enough to reveal problems? Other things lurking? ”

“ We're anticipating one to two days to get the information to the vehicle and the actual change would probably take an afternoon, if we did it. If we decide to do it we'll definitely do it for both vehicles but right now we have a good way to avoid the problem and I'm not sure we'll make the change.
Q. This dust seems to have a very sticky property. Stuck to rock and airbags. Electrostatic properties or chemical bonding?
Stephen: Not sure. Ken: Not sure. Certain minerals tend to aggregate better than others without electrostatic being involved. ”

“ We'll know better as we get closer. Unrelated but important, we did a demonstration with Mars Express for forward link commanding and return telemetry and it worked very well. International interplanetary communications network in place and functioning well. ”