Cassini Significant Events 07/28/10 - 08/03/10
The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on August 3 from
the Deep Space Network tracking complex at Madrid, Spain. 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, July 28 (DOY 209)
An Uplink Readiness Review took place today in preparation for the
uplink of new Command & Data Subsystem flight software v10. Tomorrow,
the command approval meeting will be held. The patch is planned to go up
to the spacecraft in August.
Thursday, July 29 (DOY 210)
A feature story called "Blowing in the Wind: Cassini Helps with
Dune Whodunit," describes how the answer to the mystery of dune
patterns on Saturn's moon Titan did turn out to be blowing in the wind.
It just wasn't from the direction many scientists expected. While
circulation models show surface winds streaming generally east-to-west
around Titan's equatorial belt, a new paper and related
"perspectives" story find that strong, reverse winds that occur
during a short period can do a more effective job of sculpting the dunes.
For more information, link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20100729/
Friday, July 30 (DOY 211)
The S61 sequence concluded and S62 began execution today at
2010-211T18:51:00. The sequence will run for 37 days and conclude on
Sept. 6. During that time there will be one targeted encounter of
Enceladus and eighteen non-targeted flybys two each of Titan, Dione,
and Epimetheus, and one each of Calypso, Atlas, Pandora, Daphnis, Janus,
Pan, Tethys, Polydeuces, Telesto, Prometheus, G_ARC, and Aegaeon. Three
OTMs are scheduled, numbered 259 through 261.
Monday, Aug. 2 (DOY 214)
This week science events included Cassini Plasma Spectrometer prime
for low latitude apoapsis observations acquired to give the
Magnetospheric and Plasma Science instruments an opportunity to obtain
measurements of Saturn's outer magnetosphere and magnetosheath. These
observations are performed once every four to six months to observe
Saturn¹s magnetosphere over a solar cycle, from one solar minimum to the
next, investigate magnetospheric periodicities, and how the Saturn
Kilometric Radiation period is imposed on the magnetosphere. The
Magnetometer conducted its periodic calibration roll. Imaging Science
(ISS) led Titan cloud monitoring, and performed observations of the
satellites Iapetus and Albiorix. ISS, the Composite Infrared
Spectrometer, Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph, and Visual and Infrared
Mapping Spectrometer monitored Titan cloud formations.
Tuesday, Aug. 3 (DOY 215)
AACS Periodic Engineering Maintenance was completed today. This
activity, performed approximately every 90 days, exercises the Engine
Gimbal Actuators, the backup reaction wheel assembly - or RWA-3 - and
scrubs the Backdoor Assisted Load Format Injection Loader memory. The
Navigation team has determined that Orbit Trim Maneuver #259, the
approach maneuver prior to the Enceladus encounter on Aug. 13, may be
cancelled. This decision saves about 0.1 m/s in delta-V. A live update
for pointing was already anticipated by Science Planning for Enceladus
and will now go forward along with a possible update for the non-targeted
Tethys encounter on Aug. 14 as well.
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