Cassini Significant Events for 06/05/03 - 06/11/03

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Cassini Significant Events
for 06/05/03 - 06/11/03

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone
tracking station on Monday, June 11. The Cassini spacecraft is in an
excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the
present position and speed of the  Cassini spacecraft may be found on
the "Present Position" web page located at
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm .

On-board activities this week included Radio and Plasma Wave Science
(RPWS) High Frequency Receiver calibrations, uplink of the Radio Science
Subsystem (RSS) Ka-band Exciter and Ka-band Traveling Wave Tube
Amplifier power-off that will execute this Friday, uplink and execution
of the Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) flight software checkout
and data policing overlay, uplink of CIRS Instrument Expanded Blocks
(IEB) to the SSR, and uplink and execution of an Ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrograph SSR IEB Library Test.

Additional activities included uplink of commands to deregister a
program residing on the sequencing region followed by a CDS memory
readout, deregistering of the Mission Sequence Subsystem (MSS) D8.0 on
board modules, and clearing of the ACS high water marks.

The sequence development process for C38 concluded this week.  Last week
the "D" version of the C38 background sequence was approved for uplink.
A command approval meeting was held this week for an RPWS IEB load to
the SSR, the MSS D9.0 modules, and the C38 background sequence. All
three files were subsequently uplinked to the spacecraft.  C38 begins
execution on Saturday June 14.

A Subsequence Generation (SSG) Sequence Change Request (SCR) approval
meeting was held as part of the S14 Science and Sequence Update Process
(SSUP) Verification and Validation (V&V).  SCRs received by the deadline
were dispositioned.  In addition, detailed subsequences were submitted
by all participating teams, comments submitted on the delivered
subsequence, closure provided for assigned Science Planning Liens and
Actions Table items, and IEBs submitted that will be sent in the
background sequence along with any necessary trigger Immediate/Delayed
Action Programs.  The second SSUP V&V status meeting was also held this
week.  Agenda items included a review of last week's
comments/questionnaire responses and the past week's work for SSUP V&V,
including the SCR meeting and process, subsequence inputs, upcoming IEB
submission, and process.

Multi Mission Image Processing Laboratory personnel are investigating
the impact of the lack of CDS channelized housekeeping data.  This
change in available data policing information will result in either a
software redesign, or less information relayed to the Science Teams, or
both.

The task to identify instrument noise events in time is now looking at
Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) operations.  A dialog
was begun with VIMS team members to define the timing of shutter and
mirror movements during the various operational modes.

RSS personnel are preparing to support the descoped activities for Solar
Conjunction Experiment #2 beginning 15 June.  A test pass will be
performed at Goldstone on 12 June.

Cosmic Dust Analyzer pointing strategies during both observation periods
and downlinks, and DSN weekly maintenance, what it is, what it's trying
to prevent, why it needs to be every week, followed by some discussion
of its effect on Cassini tracks during tour were covered at this week's
Mission Planning Forum.

Volume 104, Issue 1-4e of the Space Science Reviews publication is
devoted to 16 papers on Cassini and the Huygens Probe. Space Science
Reviews is an international journal containing invited review papers on
space science, defined for this purpose as scientific research carried
out by means of rockets, rocket propelled vehicles, and partly also by
stratospheric balloons and at observatories on Earth or the moon. The
journal is principally concerned with the purely scientific aspects of
the subject, but instrumental and technical aspects also receive
attention.

June 11th marked Cassini's flyby of Saturn's satellite Phoebe one year
from now.   The Phoebe flyby occurs less than 1 month before Saturn
orbit insertion on July 1, 2004.

The "Cassini at Saturn" section of the web site will begin to be
populated in the coming weeks. The first segment, Phoebe flyby, will be
posted soon. A detailed tour encounter summary and science goals for
each rev will be posted during the summer months.

The initial number of planetariums and museums that have requested a
copy of "Ring World", the Cassini planetarium show, currently total 178
in the US, over 300 in Japan, and 5 others world wide.  It is expected
that this number will grow quickly after museum activity related to Mars
opposition passes.  It is also expected that requests for the DVD
version will far outstrip the show kits. DVDs will be available in
October to schools, speaker groups, Girls Scouts, 4H, Space Place, Solar
System Ambassadors etc.

Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and
the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the
Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

Cassini Outreach
Cassini Mission to Saturn and Titan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
National Aeronautics and Space Administration



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