Opportunity continues to make slow progress through the sand dune, at a slip rate of roughly 99.5 percent. From the time Opportunity resumed driving after digging into the dune until May 26, drives totaling 64.8 meters (about 213 feet) of wheel rotations have been commanded and executed, producing 34.8 centimeters (1.1 feet) of forward progress.
According to MER Prinicpal Investigator, Steve Squyres, "We're seeing slow, steady progress, at a remarkably constant rate. For every meter of wheel turns that we command, we get half a centimeter of actual motion.
"It's been like this since the start of the extraction process. We're typically doing 12 meters of wheel turns a day, and typically seeing about six centimeters of motion. We'll get out of here eventually, but it's a slow, laborious process," he wrote in his online diary.
Opportunity has also been performing atmospheric observations. Each sol the rover takes two measurements of how clear the sky is, checks for clouds, and does a Sun survey. A few sols ago a daily horizon survey was added, and Opportunity also imaged its magnets with the panoramic camera.
Sol-by-sol summaries
Sol 469 (ending on May 20): Two meters (6.6 feet) of commanded motion, resulting in 1.1 centimeters (0.4 inch) of progress.
Sol 470: Twelve meters (39 feet) of commanded motion; about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) of progress.
Sol 471: Twelve meters (39 feet) of commanded motion; about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) of progress.
Sol 472: Twelve meters (39 feet) of motions was commanded. Only the first 2 meters were executed. After that step, the rover stopped the drive by itself due to uncertainty about its own position. One centimeter (0.4 inch) of progress was made.
Sol 473: Planning was suspended today due to issues with the ground data system. The rover executed a pre-loaded science sequence.
Sol 474: Eight-meter (26-foot) drive planned, yielding 3.7 centimeter (1.5 inches) of progress.
Sol 475 (ending on May 26, 2005): Ten-meter (33-foot) drive planned; 8.8 meters (29 feet) executed; 3.5 centimeters (1.4 inches) of progress
Looking ahead
Thursday, May 26, the team planned two sols (476 and 477), and Friday, May 27, the team was planning three sols to cover the holiday weekend. Sol 476 will command 12 meters (39 feet), and every other sol will require a "go/no-go" decision that will allow for 0 meters, 2 meters (7 feet), or 12 meters (39 feet) of commanded motion per sol.