Cassini Significant Events for 02/03/05 - 02/09/05 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired today from the Goldstone tracking station. 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 . Activities this week: We are now in the third week of execution for tour sequence S08. The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) and the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) conducted observations for time variable atmospheric events as we approach Saturn. In this last week 797 ISS images arrived along with 127 VIMS cubes. Each day this week the Optical Remote Sensing instruments are taking data, the Navigation team is obtaining Optical Navigation images, and we have - on average - one DSN pass a day where we downlink the data. If you don't see anything listed on a particular day, it's because we are just doing business as usual and have no extra events going on. Thursday, February 3: We have officially vacated the Mission Support Area on the first floor. Cassini is staffed in the Space Flight Operations Facility at JPL. When missions launch or arrive they may get space in the operations area on the first floor. We were there back in 1997 when we launched, and then moved back in for Saturn Orbit Insertion in mid 2004. Now that Probe activities have concluded, we have once again vacated the area and the Deep Impact Project is expected to move in shortly in preparation for their upcoming encounter. Cassini teams are now supporting commanding from their local office areas. On-board the spacecraft today we ran a periodic engineering maintenance activity, and an Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer planned reboot. There is a second reboot scheduled for Sunday of this week as well. On the ground, the Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation 2 merge products for S09 were released for review, and the Ground Software Monthly Management Review was held. This is where the teams get together and report status on software in development, and future plans for deliveries. Currently the primary delivery will occur in May of this year. Friday, February 4: A couple of events occurred on board the spacecraft today. First, the Spacecraft Operations Office (SCO) executed a procedure to remove the Probe Relay sequence from the SSRs. This is the final activity in support of Probe operations. This activity began yesterday and completed today over Madrid's DSS #63 pass. The second activity was to fire pyro valve #26. Firing this valve isolates the oxidizer system and prevents any possibility of mixing of propellant components. This is actually a clean up activity from the periapsis raise maneuver that occurred in August 2004. Since it was not a critical activity it was decided to delay it until after Probe Relay in order to maintain the spacecraft in as quiet a state as possible. A member of the Project Science staff supported an American Association of University Women career day at Whittier College today. Presentations on Cassini science results were given to 8th grade girls to encourage them to continue to take math and science classes in high school. All teams and offices supported the Cassini / NASA Quarterly review today. Monday, February 7: The Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) conducted an Operations Readiness Test of their instrument today. Additional activities occur Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. A preliminary estimate of the wind variations on Titan with altitude from about 100 km down to the surface has been recovered by a joint team of researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory collaborating with the Huygens Doppler wind experiment team, and with the ground-based European Very Long Baseline Interferometry team. For more information check out the Cassini web site. Tuesday, February 8: RSS performed an Ultra Stable Oscillator characterization and a periodic instrument maintenance today. SCO conducted the first of a three-part gyro calibration today. Parts B and C will execute on Wednesday and a status report will be released next week. Uplink Operations sent up commands to the spacecraft to make the Cosmic Dust Analyzer the prime instrument on day of year 47 -February 16- during the ring plane crossing. They also sent up Instrument Expanded Block files for the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument, and a Radar Enceladus mini-sequence. Wednesday, February 9: A wrap up meeting was held today for the S39/S40 Science Operations Plan implementation process. These sequences will now be archived. They will next be dusted off for further processing in September of 2007! ISS presented recent science results of Iapetus at a Tour Science Talk, and the Satellite Orbiter Science Team hosted an Enceladus preview meeting where science objectives and activities were reviewed. The flyby is on February 17. The next Tour Science Talk is on February 16 and will be the Composite InfraRed Spectrometer team presenting some of their Iapetus results. Wrap up: That's it for this week. The outreach folks especially asked me to put in a plug for local events for the Saturn Observation Campaign. For views of Saturn and the moon near JPL: * Friday, February 18, Colorado Blvd. near Delacey, Pasadena * Saturday, February 19, Myrtle & Lime, Monrovia * Friday, March 18, Pasadena * Saturday, March 19, Monrovia The Cassini-Huygens mission 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, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. --- To unsubscribe from Cassini Spacecraft Updates, send a message to leave-cassini-xxxx@list.jpl.nasa.gov --- Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
