Cassini Significant Events 09/23/09 - 09/29/09
The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Sept. 29 from
the Deep Space Network tracking complex at Goldstone, California. The
Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all subsystems
are operating normally. 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/operations/present-position.cfm
Wednesday, Sept. 23 (DOY 266):
Port 1 files for the S58 Science Operations Plan process were
received from all participating teams today. The files were merged and
the results sent out for review on Sept. 24.
A Simulation Procedure Review meeting was held today as part of the
sequence development process for S55. Radio Science (RSS) had asked that
the occultation experiments planned for DOY 324 and 344 go through the
simulation process. Testing began on Friday the 25th and completed on
Monday, Sept. 28.
A write-up on the Radio Science Solar Conjunction Experiment is posted to
Insider¹s Cassini. You can find the article at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassiniinsider/insider20090923/
Thursday, Sept. 24 (DOY 267):
The Rings Equinox science segment concluded today and a
Magnetospheric Working Group segment began. This segment is dedicated to
Magnetospheric and Plasma Science (MAPS) science, with favorable Cassini
Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) pointing nearly throughout from Sept. 24
through Oct. 8. Other than an ISS Iapetus observation on DOY 267/268, the
rest of the segment will be mostly CAPS prime pointing, with a few other
observations in which the secondary axis still allows CAPS to gather
data.
Friday, September 25 (DOY 268):
Today ISS performed two observations meant to track some of Saturn's
smaller satellites and mapped out the lit face of the rings through eight
different filters to determine how the rings' "color" varies.
Such observations can reveal information about the composition of the
rings, as well as how the ring system evolves over time and recycles the
material within them. Next the dedicated MAPS campaign began. CAPS
performed an observation designed to allow the MAPS instruments to study
Saturn¹s magnetospheric boundary with the solar wind, and the
Magnetospheric Imaging experiment/ Ion and Neutral Camera (MIMI/INCA) and
Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) performed studies of the response of
Saturn's magnetosphere.
Tuesday, Sept. 29 (DOY 272)
Although S53 is still executing, a kick off meeting was held today
for the first and only live update in S54. The update is planned to
execute on DOY 286 with Rhea, Tethys, Mimas, and Enceladus as the
targets. The Go/No Go meeting for this update is scheduled for this
Friday.
Port 3 files for the S56 Science Operations Plan process were received
from all participating teams today.
Beginning yesterday and finishing up today, Uplink Operations sent
Instrument Expanded Block files necessary for execution of the S54
background sequence to the spacecraft. There were twelve files sent for
the Composite Infrared Spectrometer, ISS, Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer, Optical Navigation, UVIS, Ion and Neutral Mass
Spectrometer, and CAPS.
And on Wednesday:
A beautiful image of the rings of Saturn taken during the recent equinox
crossing was Astronomy Picture of the Day. Check it out at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090930.html
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