The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on April 13th from
the Deep Space Network tracking complex at Canberra, Australia. 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/mission/presentposition/
Wednesday, April 7 (DOY 097)
On April 7, Cassini encountered Dione at an altitude of 503 km and a
speed of 8.4 km/s. Closest approach occurred at 2010-097 05:16:11
SCET, latitude zero deg. The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS),
in control of spacecraft pointing, turned Cassini to Dione and began
a dark side map of the satellite at a phase angle of ~165 degrees.
The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) mapped Dione's surface
albedo in ultraviolet. Imaging Science (ISS) acquired data for a
21-panel mosaic and then performed a sit-and-stare observation. At
closest-approach, the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) took over
pointing to observe the interaction between Dione and Saturn's
magnetosphere with most of the other instruments riding along. Where
possible, other instruments imaged the satellite in parallel with
prime observations. Just prior to and after the flyby, the Optical
Remote Sensing (ORS) instruments performed observations of the plumes
of Enceladus. For more information on this flyby link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/dione20100407/
Another excellent release giving details of this flyby may be found at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20100402/
In addition to the Dione flyby, non-targeted flybys of Calypso,
Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, and Tethys occurred today.
Uplink Operations and Spacecraft Operations uplinked Ion and Neutral
Mass Spectrometer Instrument Expanded Block files to the spacecraft
today along with a program to clear the spacecraft error logs, repair
portions of the Command & Data Subsystem library, perform a memory
readout of the results, and set the priority playback list.
Friday, April 9 (DOY 099)
Science observations this week included UVIS observing the star Beta
CMa being occulted by Saturn. The Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer observed the E and G rings at 60-degree phase angle. ISS
observed various satellites with the narrow angle camera as part of
an ongoing satellite orbit campaign, performed observations as part
of the Titan cloud monitoring campaign, and imaged the transit of
Prometheus across Rhea, Dione across Titan, and Epimetheus across
Janus. CAPS led co-rotation pointing for a Magnetosphere and Plasma
Science (MAPS) instrument campaign to observe dawn-side
magnetospheric boundaries at a variety of radial distances. The MAPS
instruments also performed observations as part of the solar wind
aurora campaign to study the auroral magnetosphere and the Saturn
kilometric radiation source regions. The Magnetometer performed a
calibration by rolling about the X-axis.
Saturday, April 10 (DOY 100)
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #242 was performed today. This was the
cleanup maneuver from the Titan 67 / Dione 2 flybys on April 5 and 6.
The main engine burn began at 5:30 PM PDT. Telemetry immediately
after the maneuver showed a burn duration of 52.69 seconds, giving a
delta-V of 9.037 m/s. All subsystems reported nominal performance
after the maneuver.
Monday, April 12 (DOY 102)
The Science Forum for S63 was held today. Topics included an overview
of the science planned for this sequence followed by highlights,
unique activities, and highest priority observations as described by
the Target Working Team (TWT) and Orbiter Science Team (OST) leads.
A news note entitled "Cassini Finishes Saturnian Doubleheader"
discussed the completion of Cassini's special double flyby of Titan
and Dione. The spacecraft beamed back stunning raw images of
fractured terrain and craters big and small on Dione, a moon that had
only been visited once before by Cassini. For the full details link
to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20100408/
Tuesday, April 13 (DOY 103)
Science Planning and Uplink Operations hosted a kick-off meeting
today for the handoff of the S61 background sequence product from the
Science Operations Plan process (SOP) to the final process in
sequence development, the Science and Sequence Update Process (SSUP).
SSUP will last for approximately 10 weeks with S61 beginning
execution on June 25.
News Release Apr. 14: The project announced that Cassini has captured
images of lightning on Saturn. The images have allowed scientists to
create the first movie showing lightning flashing on another planet.
For the full release go to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/newsrelease20100414/ .
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