Cassini Update - May 29, 2008
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 18:06:29 -0700 (PDT)
Cassini Significant Events
for 05/21/08 - 05/27/08
The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Monday, May 26,
from the Goldstone, California tracking complex. 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/operations/present-position.cfm.
Wednesday, May 21 (DOY 142)
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #156 was performed today. This is the
apoapsis maneuver setting up for the Titan 44 encounter on May 28.
The reaction control subsystem (RCS) burn began at 8:29 PM PST.
Telemetry immediately after the maneuver showed the burn duration was
155.13 seconds, giving a delta-V of 0.2 m/sec. All subsystems
reported nominal performance after the maneuver.
The final approval meeting was held today for the S41 background
sequence. This will be the final sequence of the prime mission.
Sequence leads will begin uplinking the Instrument Expanded Block
(IEB) files on Thursday, and the background sequence will go up on
Monday, May 26.
Based on analysis performed by Science Planning, there is currently
only a small deviation between the OTM-156 orbit determination
solution and the reference trajectory for the Janus observation
scheduled for later this week. The current pointing difference stands
at 0.37 mrad. Because of this it has been decided to cancel the
Saturn/Janus live update scheduled for May 25, 26.
Extended Mission sequence development continued today with teams
delivering their inputs for the second of three ports for the S44
sequence. The files were merged and reports were sent out to the
teams for review and resolution. AACS will perform end-to-end
pointing and the first Reaction Wheel Assembly Bias Optimization Tool
analysis on this product. The third and final port is scheduled for
June 18.
Thursday, May 22 (DOY 143)
An encounter strategy meeting was held today to cover the period
between May 28 and July 31, Titan flybys T44 and T45, and maneuvers
158-160.
In addition to the IEB files for S41, sequence leads also sent
command files for Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) direction
finding for periapsis science enhancement. The RPWS file has been
registered on-board the spacecraft and will start executing on
146T16:15. The only remaining IEB - ISS S41 IEB Load to the SSR, part
2 - will be radiated tomorrow.
Science Planners have delivered the hand-off package to Uplink
Operations for the S43 background sequence. The final sequence
development process for this sequence will begin on Tuesday, May 27.
Friday, May 23 (DOY 144):
Thanks to a very accurate OTM-156 orbit determination solution and
maneuver execution, OTM-157 has an estimated magnitude of 2 mm/sec,
which is less than the minimum RCS maneuver magnitude, with a
deviation from the targeted aim point of less than 400 meters.
Science Planning reviewed the no-maneuver solution and has determined
that there is no impact to science. Therefore, OTM-157, scheduled for
Sunday, May 25, has been cancelled.
The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) led a joint Optical
Remote Sensing (ORS) instrument campaign to image the northern aurora
of Saturn today. In addition, the Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer (VIMS) gathered information on Saturn's atmospheric
dynamics.
Saturday, May 24 (DOY 145):
Non-targeted flybys of Pallene, Atlas, and Janus occurred today.
Sunday, May 25 (DOY 145):
Following the gathering of more VIMS data on Saturn's atmospheric
dynamics, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) led a joint ORS
observation of a Tethys solar eclipse. VIMS watched a star as it was
occulted by the rings, and ISS looked at some satellites to improve
orbit estimation accuracy. As the spacecraft moved though periapsis,
ISS and UVIS led high priority observations of a Saturn solar
occultation.
Congratulations to the Phoenix Flight Team today on their successful
entry, descent, and landing operations!
Monday, May 26 (DOY 147):
Sequence leads successfully uplinked the S41 background sequence
today.
As the spacecraft moved outbound from periapsis, ISS led a joint ORS
observation of Janus by means of limb sounding in the mid-IR, CIRS
performed a Saturn limb integration to obtain stratospheric thermal
structure, VIMS performed more measurements of the global dynamics of
Saturn, and ISS wrapped up the day with an observation of Enceladus.
Tuesday, May 27 (DOY 148):
The Cassini-Huygens Analysis and Results of the Mission (CHARM)
teleconference for May was titled The History of Saturn's Rings.
Coming Up:
"Naked Science 5: Saturn's Secrets" will air for the first time this
Sunday, June 1, at 3:00 PM Pacific Time, on the National Geographic
Channel. Many images from Cassini will be shown.
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