Cassini Significant Events 02/25/09 - 03/03/09
The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Mar. 3 from the Deep
Space Network tracking complex at Madrid, Spain. The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health. 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/mission/presentposition/.
Wednesday, Feb. 25 (DOY 056)
After ending a three-month run at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at
Cornell University, the exhibit ?Spectacular Saturn - Images from the
Cassini-Huygens Mission? opened on Feb. 2 at the Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum in Wash. DC, and will be on display there through July
2009. This traveling display has been made possible with the assistance
of the American Museum of Natural History and Cornell?s Herbert Johnson
Museum of Art.
A new map of the dunes on Titan is now available. Based on
high-resolution RADAR data collected over a four-year period, some 16,000
dune segments were mapped out from about 20 RADAR images, digitized, and
combined to produce the new map. From this data scientists have
determined that Titan's rippled dunes are generally oriented east to
west, indicating that surface winds blow toward the east. This is
the opposite direction suggested by previous global circulation models of
Titan. This information is important in that knowledge of wind
patterns is necessary for planning future Titan explorations that might
involve balloon-borne experiments. For all the details link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/20090226titandunes/
Thursday, Feb. 26 (DOY 057):
The majority of science this week focused on rings, rings, and more
rings. Descending through the ring plane just prior to periapsis,
Imaging Science (ISS) acquired data for an 8-hour ring movie, and the
Cosmic Dust Analyzer took samples as the spacecraft passed through this
region. Throughout the week, a number of occultations were captured as
very bright ultraviolet and infrared stars passed behind the rings. The
Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and Ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrograph used these opportunities to study ring density and
structure. Towards the end of the week the Composite Infrared
Spectrometer obtained data for an 8-hour vertical temperature map of the
Cassini Division. Additional activities included Optical Remote
Sensing instrument observations of Dione and Rhea, and continued
Magnetospheric and Plasma Science surveys.
Friday, Feb. 27 (DOY 058):
Work continued on preparations for the propulsion system to swap to
its RCS B-branch thrusters, scheduled to begin Mar. 12. The
Integrated Test Laboratory (ITL) "dry run" to test the swap
procedure and various contingency files concluded successfully today. The
ITL end-to-end test will begin Monday, Mar. 2, and will run the entire
week. After the conclusion of the test on Friday, the project will
hold an Uplink Readiness Review. Actual uplink of files will then
begin on Saturday, Mar. 7.
Monday, March 2 (DOY 061):
If you go to
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/imageoftheyear08/,
you will find yourself at the Cassini Image of the Year website.
This year, 15 images were presented for our readers to vote on. The
winner: A Tectonic Feast. On Oct. 5, 2008, just after closest
approach at 25 kilometers, Cassini captured this mosaic of the
geologically active surface of Enceladus.
Tuesday, March 3 (DOY 062):
Cassini scientists analyzing images acquired over the course of about
600 days found a tiny moonlet, half a kilometer across, embedded within a
partial ring, or ring arc, in Saturn's tenuous G ring. ?S/2008 S 1?
has been identified as the 61st known satellite orbiting Saturn and is
likely a significant source of the small particles found in the G
ring. For the full story link to:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-035
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