Cassini Significant Events for 04/29/04 - 05/05/04

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Cassini Significant Events
for 04/29/04 - 05/05/04

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone
tracking station on Tuesday, May 4. 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 .

Science activities this week included repetitive blocks of imaging with
occasional riders, a few Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph system scans, and
optical navigation (OPNAV) images.  Additional on board activities included
uplink and successful execution of science mini-sequences, a Reaction Wheel
Assembly bias and unload activity, and Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer and Cosmic Dust Analyzer flight software normalization.
Normalization involves copying the same versions of flight software to the
applicable sections of the SSR and verifying the copies.

On April 29, 2004 the Spacecraft Operations Office completed the in-flight
ACS Flight Software (FSW) A8.6.7 uplink and checkout.  The A8.6.7 FSW load
is needed to support Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) activities. Following the
update, the C44 background sequence continued nominally with no errors.

Sequence development for S01, the first tour sequence, is nearly complete.
This week the Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation 2 (PSIV) phase
was completed and the Final SIV phase begun.  Final Waiver Disposition
/Sequence Change request meetings were held, and instrument internal
expanded block load files for RADAR, Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS),
Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS), Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), & OPNAV
were processed and released. Final sequence approval and uplink of all files
to the spacecraft will occur next week.

PSIV1 sequence of events generation (SEG) products for S02 have been
released for review.  The Simulation Coordination meeting and the Simulation
Procedure Review meeting for this sequence were cancelled as no background
sequence-specific simulation issues have been identified.

A waiver request approval meeting and official port #2 of the Science
Operations Plan (SOP) Implementation process for tour sequences S27 and S28
occurred this week. The delivered sequence products were merged and handed
off to the ACS team for a complete end-to-end pointing analysis.

The SOP Implementation process for sequences S29 and S30 was started this
week.

The official port for SOP Update of sequence S03 occurred this week. The
delivered sequence products were merged and handed off to the ACS team for a
complete end-to-end pointing analysis.  The Project Briefing and Waiver
Disposition Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 12.  The process will be
complete on Friday, May 14.

The Spacecraft Team completed the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) End-to-End
Dress Rehearsal on May 1, 2004.  This rehearsal, using the Integrated Test
Lab as the spacecraft, started on April 9, 2004, with the load of the
critical sequence to the Solid State Recorders.  It was followed by
Trajectory Correction Maneuver 21, then the load and activate of the SOI
critical sequence.  The exercise completed with a nominal SOI execution,
followed by a nominal Orbit Trajectory Maneuver 1.  On May 3, 2004, the
Spacecraft Team started the first of a series of Operation Readiness Tests
(ORT) with a spacecraft safing following SOI.  The ORTs will continue
through May and June.

All teams and offices supported the Cassini NASA Quarterly Review.

In the last week, 1031 ISS images and 15 Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer (VIMS) cubes were returned and distributed, bringing the total
number of images acquired since the start of Approach Science up to 5463,
and the number of cubes up to 766.

The Multi-Mission Image Processing laboratory sought approval from the
Project for a few updates to the current operational system.  A set of
important upgrades was approved and will be delivered before May 15.  The
upgrades will improve the reliability of OPNAV image production, correct
lab-wide display problems, and reduce hand editing of sequence files.

A delivery coordination meeting for the Remote Terminal Interface Unit
(RTIU) software Version 3.1 was held this week.  This software simulates the
RTIU capability of the Cassini CDS and provides the CDS functionality needed
for instrument command and telemetry testing.

A delivery coordination meeting was held for the Cassini Information
Management System version 3.1.

The Cassini Speakers' Group hosted another noontime talk at JPL. Presented
was "Mysteries of Saturn."  This talk and others given by the Cassini
speakers group is available to the public.  Contact Cassini Outreach at
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

This week's image release is the last single `eyeful' of Saturn and its
rings achievable on approach to the planet.  From now until orbit insertion,
Saturn and its rings will be larger than the field of view of the narrow
angle camera.  The image can be viewed on the Cassini web site at
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

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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