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Cassini Update - September 25, 2009



 
 
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Old September 28th 09, 04:41 AM posted to sci.space.news
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Default Cassini Update - September 25, 2009

Cassini Significant Events
for 09/16/09 - 09/22/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired
on Sept. 22 from the Deep Space Network tracking
complex at Goldstone, California. The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and
all subsystems are operating normally.
Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the
"Present Position" page at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operation...t-position.cfm

Wednesday, Sept. 16 (DOY 259):

The Cassini Scientist for a Day Fall 2009 Essay
Contest is currently underway. To celebrate the
International Year of Astronomy, this 8th edition
of the contest is open to all nations and
educational organizations. Each country and/or
educational organization is encouraged to run the
contest either following our guidelines or customizing them to fit
their
needs.

In the US, students in grades 5-12 may enter with
a fast approaching entry deadline of September
30, 2009, at noon Pacific Time. All essays will
be evaluated by Cassini scientists, flight team
members, and educators. Winning essays will be
selected for each target. Outside the US,
sponsoring organizations are tasked to select a
deadline, collect and judge the essays, and to
send the winning entries to the Cassini Outreach
Team. Winners and their classmates will be
invited to participate in a web-based videoconference with Cassini
scientists.

The actual observation for this contest is
scheduled for October 11. The Science Planning
team designed three possible observation
opportunities. Target number 1 is Saturn and its
rings. Number 2 is Tethys with Saturn's rings,
and number 3 is Titan. For more information link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education...day8thedition/

Thursday, Sept. 17 (DOY 260):

On the Cassini Website, under News & Features,
one can find a link to the Cassini Science
League. Launched in August of this year, the
League endeavors to share with the public more of
the large and diverse volume of science generated
by the scientists on the Cassini mission. Each
Science League entry will highlight a science
paper - or set of interrelated papers - and
provide information on the publication in which the paper appears.

The first two articles "Resolving Rain over
Xanadu" and "Titan and Earth's Future Atmosphe
Lost to Space" appeared in September and August
respectively. Release #3 is due out before the
end of September. To access the articles link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassiniscienceleague/

Friday, Sept. 18 (DOY 261):

Non-targeted flybys of Prometheus and Dione occurred today.

Sunday, Sept. 20 (DOY 263):

With the spacecraft and Saturn finally far enough
removed from superior conjunction - a
three-degree separation angle - science data
acquisition and playback activities have resumed.
The final portion of the Rings Equinox campaign
ran from Sunday, Sept. 20, through Sept. 24. The
entire set of ring observations during equinox
were deemed as the highest value rings science of
the Extended Mission. The observations for the
RINGS discipline group in these segments were
designed to look for ring phenomena that
scientists have never had the opportunity to study before.

Monday, Sept. 21 (DOY 264):

Science Planning hosted a presentation on the
science highlights for sequence S58 with a focus
on what is unique and what observations have the
highest priority. This information will help the
flight team as the sequence goes through the
development process, and assist in making trades
should the need arise. The files for the first input port are due
Wednesday.

Scientists are marveling over the extent of
ruffles and dust clouds revealed in the rings of
Saturn during the planet's equinox crossing last
month. Once thought to be almost completely flat
- at most 10 meters thick - new images of the
rings reveal some newly discovered "bumps" as
high as the Rocky Mountains. For the full story, link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news...lease20090921/

A slideshow with highlights from Cassini's
five-year tour of Saturn, "The Saturn System: A
Feast for the Eyes," was also released Monday:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cass...astfortheeyes/

Completing an observation that began on the
previous day, VIMS monitored Saturn's rings
following the equinox. Next came an observation
in the CIRS campaign to monitor the long-term
trends in ring temperatures as the Sun moves
north across the ring plane during the equinox
and illuminates that side of the rings that
hasn't seen direct sunlight in over 14 years. ISS
then turned to study what have come to be known
as "propellers," features that indicate the
presence of ring particles large enough to
disturb the ring particles in their vicinity but
not so large as to be able to open a gap in the rings.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 (DOY 265):

Today Cassini and the equinox images were
mentioned on NBC Nightly News. The piece was
called "NASA Offers a New View of Saturn." The story can be viewed
online at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619#32975141

After reaching a separation (SEP) angle of 4
degrees, Cassini officially exited superior
conjunction. The minimum SEP angle of 1.95
degrees occurred on Sept. 17. One hundred "NO-OP"
commands were sent on each pass from September 15
through September 19 to test the conjunction command link.

A non-targeted flyby of Titan occurred today.

The Target Working Team (TWT)/ Orbiter Science
Team (OST) integrated products for S59, covering
orbits 129 through 131, from April through May,
2010, were delivered today. The integrated
products are in their final form and no
re-integration is planned. The next step in
sequence development, Science Operations Plan
(SOP) implementation, will kick off on Oct. 7.
Between now and then, the instrument teams will
be working on pointing designs for the sequence.
TWT/OST teams deliver integrated sequence
products for the extended mission about every five weeks.

The DSN schedulers provided a fully negotiated
S55 allocation file at this point in the Science
Operations Plan Process. Because of this, there
was enough time to perform the Sponge Bit
process. This process allowed Science Planning to
give out extra data volume for selected periods
of time where there was SSR and downlink margin.
The process began on the 21st with the
publication of an update to the Solid State
Recorder Management Tool report, and a Sponge
Bits package specifying the amount of data volume
per period that was available. A representative
from each science team then reviewed the package
and discussed with their team members if they
could take advantage of the available data volume
in each period. Based on the inputs received, the
science planner next updated the Sponge Bits
package with a proposed allocation. Then during
the actual Sponge Bits meeting on Tuesday, Sept.
22, the allocation was reviewed and approved.
Bottom line - more data for science!
 




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