Jacques van Oene
November 12th 05, 02:55 PM
End of LEOP Activities
11 Nov 2005 14:19
Report for period 10 November 15:30 - to 11 November 12:30 UTC.
The Venus Express Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) activities again
continued to run very smoothly. All foreseen activities were completed and
it was also possible to bring forward some platform commissioning
activities, which were planned for the coming weekend.
A pinnacle in the reporting period was the first command send to Venus
Express in X-Band via the new ESA 35m Deep Space Ground Station at Cebreros
(Avila, Spain). Furthermore, the Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM-1) was
successfully performed, which now brings Venus Express on the exact
trajectory required for Venus Orbit Insertion.
Pass 4 Activities
LEOP operations included successful switching from the Low Gain Antenna
(LGA) to the High Gain Antenna (HGA2), a test with the second S-Band
transponder (S-Tx2), change in radio frequency band from S-Band to X-Band,
and increase of the telemetry downlink bit rate to 91.4 kbps.
At 17:10 UTC the uplink carrier was established at Cebreros and the first
command was transmitted from Cebreros to the Venus Express spacecraft at
17:21 UTC in X-Band. This marked the successful achievement of a major
milestone for the new ESA 35m ground station.
The first dump of the Solid State Mass Memory (SSMM) data was done at 19:47
UTC, the first On-Board Control Procedure (OBCP) executed at 19:52 UTC, and
the first Reaction Wheel off-loading was performed from 18:25 to 00:19 UTC.
Bonus activities in pass 4 encompassed Thermal Control System (TCS) heater
switching, and successful commissioning of the Data Management System (DMS).
It is to be noted that both the power and the thermal behaviour of the
spacecraft are very close to pre-launch flight predictions.
Pass 5 Activities
Activities started with the preparation for the Trajectory Correction
Manoeuvre (TCM-1). The manoeuvre was again performed in the direction of
Earth in order to be fuel optimal. The slew was started 05:39 UTC and was
completed 06:09 UTC. Subsequently, TCM-1 started at 06:14:33 UTC, had a
manoeuvre duration of 209 seconds and a magnitude of 3.43 metres per second.
Post manoeuvre assessment based on Doppler data indicated that manoeuvre
accuracy was within 0.034%. At 07:29 UTC the spacecraft had been slewed back
to the starting attitude.
Thereafter, the Solid State Mass Memory (SSMM) data were dumped, the Ultra
Stable Oscillator (USO) was switched-on and the Telemetry mode was changed.
This completed the foreseen activities for pass 5. As a bonus, the Star
Tracker commissioning was done.
With the end of the LEOP, the ground station support has now been
significantly reduced and stations have been released. The mission will now
be supported primarily by one pass per day from Cebreros. The support given
by the ESA stations in Kourou, New Norcia/Perth and Cebreros, and by the
NASA DSN stations of Canberra and Goldstone has been excellent.
The LEOP activities were completed on 11 November 2005 (DOY 315) at 08:48
UTC and Mission Elapse Time (MET) 53:15 hrs with Venus Express spacecraft
already 634 000 km from Earth.
Upcoming Operations
Date
Scheduled Event
11 November 2005
Start Near Earth Commissioning Phase (NECP)
12 November 2005
Start NECP Platform Commissioning
18 November 2005
Start NECP Payload Commissioning
14 December 2005
End of NECP
16 February 2006
Main Engine Calibration
11 April 2006
Venus Orbit Insertion (VOI)
07 May 2006
Venus operational orbit achieved
04 June 2006
Start rountine science operations
--
--------------------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
11 Nov 2005 14:19
Report for period 10 November 15:30 - to 11 November 12:30 UTC.
The Venus Express Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) activities again
continued to run very smoothly. All foreseen activities were completed and
it was also possible to bring forward some platform commissioning
activities, which were planned for the coming weekend.
A pinnacle in the reporting period was the first command send to Venus
Express in X-Band via the new ESA 35m Deep Space Ground Station at Cebreros
(Avila, Spain). Furthermore, the Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM-1) was
successfully performed, which now brings Venus Express on the exact
trajectory required for Venus Orbit Insertion.
Pass 4 Activities
LEOP operations included successful switching from the Low Gain Antenna
(LGA) to the High Gain Antenna (HGA2), a test with the second S-Band
transponder (S-Tx2), change in radio frequency band from S-Band to X-Band,
and increase of the telemetry downlink bit rate to 91.4 kbps.
At 17:10 UTC the uplink carrier was established at Cebreros and the first
command was transmitted from Cebreros to the Venus Express spacecraft at
17:21 UTC in X-Band. This marked the successful achievement of a major
milestone for the new ESA 35m ground station.
The first dump of the Solid State Mass Memory (SSMM) data was done at 19:47
UTC, the first On-Board Control Procedure (OBCP) executed at 19:52 UTC, and
the first Reaction Wheel off-loading was performed from 18:25 to 00:19 UTC.
Bonus activities in pass 4 encompassed Thermal Control System (TCS) heater
switching, and successful commissioning of the Data Management System (DMS).
It is to be noted that both the power and the thermal behaviour of the
spacecraft are very close to pre-launch flight predictions.
Pass 5 Activities
Activities started with the preparation for the Trajectory Correction
Manoeuvre (TCM-1). The manoeuvre was again performed in the direction of
Earth in order to be fuel optimal. The slew was started 05:39 UTC and was
completed 06:09 UTC. Subsequently, TCM-1 started at 06:14:33 UTC, had a
manoeuvre duration of 209 seconds and a magnitude of 3.43 metres per second.
Post manoeuvre assessment based on Doppler data indicated that manoeuvre
accuracy was within 0.034%. At 07:29 UTC the spacecraft had been slewed back
to the starting attitude.
Thereafter, the Solid State Mass Memory (SSMM) data were dumped, the Ultra
Stable Oscillator (USO) was switched-on and the Telemetry mode was changed.
This completed the foreseen activities for pass 5. As a bonus, the Star
Tracker commissioning was done.
With the end of the LEOP, the ground station support has now been
significantly reduced and stations have been released. The mission will now
be supported primarily by one pass per day from Cebreros. The support given
by the ESA stations in Kourou, New Norcia/Perth and Cebreros, and by the
NASA DSN stations of Canberra and Goldstone has been excellent.
The LEOP activities were completed on 11 November 2005 (DOY 315) at 08:48
UTC and Mission Elapse Time (MET) 53:15 hrs with Venus Express spacecraft
already 634 000 km from Earth.
Upcoming Operations
Date
Scheduled Event
11 November 2005
Start Near Earth Commissioning Phase (NECP)
12 November 2005
Start NECP Platform Commissioning
18 November 2005
Start NECP Payload Commissioning
14 December 2005
End of NECP
16 February 2006
Main Engine Calibration
11 April 2006
Venus Orbit Insertion (VOI)
07 May 2006
Venus operational orbit achieved
04 June 2006
Start rountine science operations
--
--------------------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info