Cassini Significant Events for 10/06/05 - 10/12/05

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Cassini Significant Events 
for 10/06/05 - 10/12/05

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired Wednesday, October 12,
from the Goldstone tracking stations. 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 .

Thursday, October 6 (DOY 279):

The Project gave approval for the cancellation of Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM)
#37.  The decision was arrived at after it was determined that not
performing OTM-37 had minimal navigational impact, no measurable science
impact at Dione, and only a minimal impact at Telesto.  A live Inertial
Vector Propagator (IVP) update for one vector will be uplinked Sunday to
modify pointing for Telesto.  A Reaction Wheel Assembly bias will be
performed during the prime OTM-37 pass on Saturday.

Cassini's second archive delivery milestone scheduled for October 1, and
containing data from October of 2004 through December of 2004, is 99%
complete.

Commanding today included uplink of the S15 background sequence, the
Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) flight software checkout
mini-sequence, and a Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) coincidence
plate parameter update that will lower high voltage for safety during the
ring plane crossing period.

Saturday, October 8 (DOY 281):

The S14 background sequence concluded today.  S15 began execution at 6:49 AM
Pacific Time.  The sequence will run for 35 days, concluding on November 12.
Events during this time include targeted flybys of Dione on October 12 and
Titan on October 28, non-targeted flybys of Telesto, Pallene, Atlas,
Enceladus, Methone, and Calypso, and OTMs 38 through 41.  During this
sequence the RADAR instrument will obtain synthetic aperture radar coverage
of the Huygens probe-landing site as Cassini passes by Titan on October 28.

Sunday, October 9 (DOY 282):

The Main Engine cover was closed today for the ascending ring plane crossing
as part of the E-ring dust hazard avoidance procedure.  The cover will be
opened Tuesday for OTM-38, and then closed again for a short period of time
while Cassini descends through the ring plane. The cover will then be opened
and remains open until mid-May.

The sequence leads uplinked files to the spacecraft today for the RADAR
Dione trigger and Telesto Live IVP Update.  Files will execute on Tuesday.

Monday, October 10 (DOY 283):

A picture of Saturn's storms taken by Cassini is Astronomy Picture of the
Day today. 

Tuesday, October 11 (DOY 284):

Today Cassini continued an amazing string of close icy satellite encounters
with the targeted encounter at Dione. Closest approach occurred on Tuesday,
October 11th, at 12:10 PM Pacific Time at an altitude of 500 km above the
surface and at a speed of 9 kilometers per second. Dione has a diameter of
1120 km, making it the third-largest icy satellite after Iapetus and Rhea.

The encounter itself occurs very near Saturn periapsis. The cleanup maneuver
for the flyby contains a large deterministic component that is important for
targeting for future encounters and occurs less than a day after the
encounter.

The flyby geometry of Dione is oriented such that her wispy terrain is
easily observable by the remote sensing instruments on Cassini. The primary
science investigations will be centered on the following questions: What is
the compositional makeup of Dione, other than water ice? Did resurfacing
occur early in Dione's history? What do the cracks and fractures tell us
about the recent geologic history of Dione? How does Dione interact with
Saturn's rings and magnetosphere?

Non-targeted flybys of Telesto, Pallene, Atlas, and Enceladus occurred today
as Cassini was departing Dione.

Wednesday, October 12 (DOY 285):

An image of the cliffs and craters on Tethys is Astronomy Picture of the Day
today. 

OTM-38 was successfully completed today.  Also known as the "D1+1 day"
maneuver,  this is a clean-up maneuver following Cassini's flyby of Dione.
This OTM occurred near Saturn periapsis, and was bracketed by ascending and
descending hazardous ring plane crossings. The main engine burn began at
12:15 am PST, with a duration of 92.7 seconds, giving a delta-V of
approximately 14.8 m/s.  All subsystems reported nominal performance after
the maneuver.

A delivery coordination meeting was held today for version 11.1 of Kinematic
Prediction Tool (KPT).

Wrap up:

Check out the Cassini web site at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov for the latest
press releases and images.

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.



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