Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Opportunity Rover Gets Power Boost from Wind Events on Mars

The Opportunity rover on Mars has gotten a 70% boost in power over the past few weeks. A good portion of that comes from the fact that its springtime in Mars’ southern hemisphere where Oppy now sits along the western rim of Endeavour Crater and so the Sun is now shining longer and higher in the sky. But also, several recent gusts of wind – or perhaps small dust devils – have cleaned much of the dust off the rover’s solar panels.

The rover team reported that between Sols 3605 and 3606 (March 15 and March 16, 2014), there was a dust cleaning event that resulted in about a 10% improvement in power production to 574 watt-hours, and then another cleaning event this week has put the power output to 615 watt-hours.

See a self-portrait that Opportunity took of its solar panels back in January to compare with the image above of how much cleaner the solar panels are now.

To celebrate 10 years of the Opportunity rover on Mars, the rover team used the panoramic camera (Pancam) to take images of the rover itself during the interval Jan. 3, 2014, to Jan. 6, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
To celebrate 10 years of the Opportunity rover on Mars, the rover team used the panoramic camera (Pancam) to take images of the rover itself during the interval Jan. 3, 2014, to Jan. 6, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.

Of course, this is not the first time a wind cleaning event has dusted off the solar panels — in fact it has happened several times (see here, here, and here) which is one of the reasons for the longevity of the solar-powered rovers.

I love these self-images the rovers can take, and below is a great recent image the rover took of its own shadow, in the late-afternoon Sun. The image was taken by the rover’s rear hazard avoidance camera.

Late afternoon lighting produced a dramatic shadow of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity photographed by the rover's rear hazard-avoidance camera on March 20, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
Late afternoon lighting produced a dramatic shadow of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity photographed by the rover’s rear hazard-avoidance camera on March 20, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.

The image was taken looking eastward shortly before sunset on Sol 3,609 (March 20, 2014). The rover’s shadow falls across a slope called the McClure-Beverlin Escarpment on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, where Opportunity is investigating rock layers for evidence about ancient environments. The scene includes a glimpse into the distance across the 14-mile-wide (22-kilometer-wide) crater.

Source: JPL

5 Replies to “Opportunity Rover Gets Power Boost from Wind Events on Mars”

  1. This is not the first time a MER rover had it’s solar panels cleaned off by the wind. Didn’t Spirit experience similar with the passage of a nearby Dust Devil? Praps that’s what happened here? It’d be ‘trick’ if MRO’s cameras caught a Devil doing the deeds… although in this case, I’d call it a Dust Angel!

  2. The Martian dust sunlight was screening
    But now towards the sun it is leaning
    As seasons there change
    The winds rearrange
    The rover just had some Spring cleaning

  3. Just fantastic how lucky can we get lets hope Curiosity has the same good luck and continues to explore mars with its nuclear core operating for years……………

  4. Perhaps the colonists of the MarsOne missions will see the ratings increase their funding when they venture out to give Oppy a nice shine, replace the R.A.T, even get Spirit out of that sand trap 🙂

  5. I always wondered if they could deliberately drive over a jutting bit of rock ith one of the wheels to sort of “bounce” the dust off.

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