ron
June 22nd 09, 05:56 AM
Cassini Significant Events 9
for 06/10/09 - 06/16/09
The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on June 16 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/mission/presentposition/>
Wednesday, June 10 (DOY 161)
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #200 was performed today. This is the
cleanup maneuver after the Titan 56 encounter on June 6. The main
engine burn began at 2:30 AM PDT. Telemetry immediately after the
maneuver showed the burn duration was 12.67 seconds, giving a delta-V
of 2.1 m/sec. All subsystems reported nominal performance after the
maneuver.
Thursday, June 11 (DOY 162)
Outreach gave a presentation today on the Cassini Saturn Observation
Campaign during the IYA2009 Citizen Science Program Session at the
American Astronomical Society meeting in Pasadena.
Friday, June 12 (DOY 163)
Today Imaging Science (ISS) performed intermediate phase, dark-face
ring photometry for 4h30m, followed by another observation in the
Satellite Orbit Determination Campaign. Next the Ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrograph (UVIS) observed a star as it passed behind the rings.
The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer then took pointing control of the
spacecraft to perform a Magnetospheric and Plasma Science survey for
2h41m.
Saturday, June 13 (DOY 164):
The S50 sequence concluded and S51 began execution today at
2009-164T04:41. The S51 sequence will run for 40 days and conclude
on July 23. Due to the size of the sequence, it has been split into
two parts with Part 2 beginning execution on July 7. During
execution there will be two targeted encounters of Titan and one
non-targeted flyby of Dione. Eight maneuvers are scheduled, numbered
201 through 208. First time events include AACS Flight Software
normalization for version 8.7.7.
Sunday, June 14 (DOY 165):
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #201 was performed today. This is the
apoapsis maneuver setting up for the Titan 57 encounter on June
22. The Reaction Control Subsystem burn began at 7:45 PM PDT.
Telemetry immediately after the maneuver showed the burn duration was
22 seconds, giving a delta-V of 0.03 m/s. All subsystems reported
nominal performance after the maneuver.
Monday, June 15 (DOY 166):
Science Planning hosted an S55 Science Highlights meeting today. The
presentation focused on what observations will be unique and highest
priority during that sequence. The information was provided by the
Target Working Team and Orbiter Science Team leads, with comments
from the Investigation Scientists and other instrument team
representatives. A special topic at this meeting was discussion of
thruster use and predicted hydrazine consumption for the Enceladus 8
flyby in November.
A kickoff meeting was held today for a Radio Science (RSS) Titan 57
live update for DOY-173. RSS reported that based on the latest orbit
determination solution from Navigation, published last Friday
afternoon, the pointing errors are sufficiently small that they will
be using the existing "on the shelf" RSS design.
Tuesday, June 16 (DOY 167):
An encounter strategy meeting was held today to cover the period
between June 22 and July 8, Titan flybys T57 and T58, and maneuvers
203-205.
The Science Operations Plan process for S53 concluded last Friday
with the final delivery to Uplink Operations of the handoff
package. Today a kick-off meeting was held to initiate the final
development process for this sequence. During the execution of S53,
ground operations expects to uplink patches to CDS flight software,
and Cassini will enter Solar Conjunction, a time of limited
communications between the ground and the spacecraft.
Spacecraft Operations concluded AACS flight software (FSW)
normalization today for the recently uplinked version A8.7.7. At all
times there are four copies of FSW on the SSR. During FSW updates,
two copies are made of the new software and two copies are kept of
the current version. Spacecraft operations are then conducted using
the new software, and once the new FSW load is deemed acceptable,
normalization makes all copies equivalent to the new version.
Due to the one-day launch delay for the Lunar CRater Observation and
Sensing Satellite and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Cassini
flight team has decided to accelerate the uplink schedule for
OTM-202. LCROSS and LRO are currently scheduled to launch on June 18
and the maneuver would be uplinked on June 19. If there were any
further launch delays, there could be a conflict for DSN
coverage. An early uplink for Cassini avoids any possible issues.
Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
for 06/10/09 - 06/16/09
The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on June 16 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/mission/presentposition/>
Wednesday, June 10 (DOY 161)
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #200 was performed today. This is the
cleanup maneuver after the Titan 56 encounter on June 6. The main
engine burn began at 2:30 AM PDT. Telemetry immediately after the
maneuver showed the burn duration was 12.67 seconds, giving a delta-V
of 2.1 m/sec. All subsystems reported nominal performance after the
maneuver.
Thursday, June 11 (DOY 162)
Outreach gave a presentation today on the Cassini Saturn Observation
Campaign during the IYA2009 Citizen Science Program Session at the
American Astronomical Society meeting in Pasadena.
Friday, June 12 (DOY 163)
Today Imaging Science (ISS) performed intermediate phase, dark-face
ring photometry for 4h30m, followed by another observation in the
Satellite Orbit Determination Campaign. Next the Ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrograph (UVIS) observed a star as it passed behind the rings.
The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer then took pointing control of the
spacecraft to perform a Magnetospheric and Plasma Science survey for
2h41m.
Saturday, June 13 (DOY 164):
The S50 sequence concluded and S51 began execution today at
2009-164T04:41. The S51 sequence will run for 40 days and conclude
on July 23. Due to the size of the sequence, it has been split into
two parts with Part 2 beginning execution on July 7. During
execution there will be two targeted encounters of Titan and one
non-targeted flyby of Dione. Eight maneuvers are scheduled, numbered
201 through 208. First time events include AACS Flight Software
normalization for version 8.7.7.
Sunday, June 14 (DOY 165):
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #201 was performed today. This is the
apoapsis maneuver setting up for the Titan 57 encounter on June
22. The Reaction Control Subsystem burn began at 7:45 PM PDT.
Telemetry immediately after the maneuver showed the burn duration was
22 seconds, giving a delta-V of 0.03 m/s. All subsystems reported
nominal performance after the maneuver.
Monday, June 15 (DOY 166):
Science Planning hosted an S55 Science Highlights meeting today. The
presentation focused on what observations will be unique and highest
priority during that sequence. The information was provided by the
Target Working Team and Orbiter Science Team leads, with comments
from the Investigation Scientists and other instrument team
representatives. A special topic at this meeting was discussion of
thruster use and predicted hydrazine consumption for the Enceladus 8
flyby in November.
A kickoff meeting was held today for a Radio Science (RSS) Titan 57
live update for DOY-173. RSS reported that based on the latest orbit
determination solution from Navigation, published last Friday
afternoon, the pointing errors are sufficiently small that they will
be using the existing "on the shelf" RSS design.
Tuesday, June 16 (DOY 167):
An encounter strategy meeting was held today to cover the period
between June 22 and July 8, Titan flybys T57 and T58, and maneuvers
203-205.
The Science Operations Plan process for S53 concluded last Friday
with the final delivery to Uplink Operations of the handoff
package. Today a kick-off meeting was held to initiate the final
development process for this sequence. During the execution of S53,
ground operations expects to uplink patches to CDS flight software,
and Cassini will enter Solar Conjunction, a time of limited
communications between the ground and the spacecraft.
Spacecraft Operations concluded AACS flight software (FSW)
normalization today for the recently uplinked version A8.7.7. At all
times there are four copies of FSW on the SSR. During FSW updates,
two copies are made of the new software and two copies are kept of
the current version. Spacecraft operations are then conducted using
the new software, and once the new FSW load is deemed acceptable,
normalization makes all copies equivalent to the new version.
Due to the one-day launch delay for the Lunar CRater Observation and
Sensing Satellite and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Cassini
flight team has decided to accelerate the uplink schedule for
OTM-202. LCROSS and LRO are currently scheduled to launch on June 18
and the maneuver would be uplinked on June 19. If there were any
further launch delays, there could be a conflict for DSN
coverage. An early uplink for Cassini avoids any possible issues.
Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>