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Report for Period 21 June to 27 June 2010

This report covers one week of Rosetta mission operations. The navigation campaign for the upcoming flyby of asteroid Lutetia on 10 July 2010 is ongoing. Radiometric data and optical images are regularly processed to assess the spacecraft's trajectory relative to that of the asteroid.

Report for period 18 May to 23 June 2010

Mission operations of the Herschel space observatory continued nominally during the reporting period, with the spacecraft and subsystems all performing as expected. Herschel has successfully passed its first In-orbit Performance Review, which was held on 8 June at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. No critical issues were identified.

Report for Period 5 June to 20 June 2010

This report covers two weeks of Rosetta mission operations. The navigation campaign for the upcoming flyby of asteroid Lutetia on 10 July 2010 is ongoing. Radiometric data and optical images are regularly processed to assess the spacecraft's trajectory relative to that of the asteroid. Several slots are reserved in the weeks leading up to the flyby for possible trajectory correction manoeuvres (TCMs). The first of these slots was on 18 June, three weeks before closest approach, and has been used to adjust Rosetta's trajectory.

Report for Period 23 May to 19 June 2010 (week 21 - week 24)

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments continue to perform nominally. The eclipse season that started on 7 April 2010 has concluded in this reporting period. The mission's ninth Earth occultation season is ongoing and will last until 11 July 2010.

Report for Period 22 May to 4 June 2010

This report covers two weeks of Rosetta mission operations. The navigation campaign for the upcoming flyby of asteroid Lutetia on 10 July 2010 is well underway. In addition to the ESA New Norcia ground station, the spacecraft as of now is also regularly tracked by NASA DSN ground stations. Rosetta's on-board cameras have also started to visually track asteroid Lutetia in an optical navigation campaign, with the first set of observations completed on 31 May.

Report for Period 25 April to 22 May 2010 (week 17 - week 20)

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during the reporting period. However, two occurrences of a minor anomaly with ASPERA led to the loss of part of the science data taken by the instrument on 27 April and on 7 May. On 30 April the mission's ninth Earth occultation season started, which will last until 11 July 2010. The current eclipse season, which started already on 7 April, is ongoing and will last until end May 2010. On 14 May the regular DDOR measurements were performed.

Report for Period 8 May to 21 May 2010

This report covers two weeks of Rosetta mission operations. The final activities of the active payload check-out 12 (PC12) were successfully conducted according to plan. The last spacecraft activities in preparation of the Lutetia flyby campaign were also completed.

Report for period 22 April to 18 May 2010

Mission operations of the Herschel space observatory continued nominally during the reporting period, with the spacecraft and subsystems all performing as expected. Friday, 14 May 2010, marked the first anniversary of Herschel's launch.

Report for Period 1 May to 7 May 2010

The reporting period covers the third week of the active payload check-out 12 (PC12) for Rosetta. All the planned PC12 activities were successfully conducted according to plan.

Report for Period 24 April to 30 April 2010

The reporting period covers the second week of the active payload check-out 12 (PC12) for Rosetta. All the planned PC12 activities were successfully conducted according to plan.

Report for Period 28 March to 24 April 2010 (week 13 - week 16)

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during the reporting period. The atmospheric drag experiment (ADE) campaign #3b was performed from 11 to 16 April. Several solar array tilt experiments were carried out around the pericentre on 3 April and on the last five days of the ADE campaign #3b. On 10 April the regular DDOR measurements were made. An orbit control manoeuvre (OCM) was performed on 17 April to raise the pericentre altitude again.

Report for Period 17 April to 23 April 2010

The reporting period covers one week of Rosetta mission operations and saw the start of the spacecraft check-out 11 and the active payload check-out 12 (PC12).

Report for period 21 March to 21 April 2010

Mission operations of the Herschel space observatory continued nominally during the reporting period, with the spacecraft and subsystems all performing as expected.

Report for Period 27 March to 16 April 2010

The reporting period covers three weeks of Rosetta mission operations. Few instrument tests were performed in preparation of the active payload check-out (PC12), which will start in the next reporting period. The MIRO instrument was activated on 6 April for a validation of new on-board control procedures (OBCP) that apply a software patch. The ultra-stable oscillator (USO) of the Radio Science Investigation (RSI) was un-muted for a short period of time on 14 April.

Main events and Activities

On 3 March, Mars Express performed the closest ever flyby of Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons. The spacecraft passed Phobos at an altitude of about 67 kilometres. The flyby was part of the Phobos flyby campaign, which started on 16 February and concluded on 26 March. The campaign, with a total of twelve flybys, provided a unique opportunity for scientific investigations of the small moon. Near the end of the campaign, on 21 and 22 March, spacecraft manoeuvres changed the Mars Express orbit to its planned final 88:25 resonance. This orbit resonance is more favourable for Mars observations by the optical instruments over the next few years of the mission.

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during the reporting period. The atmospheric drag experiment (ADE) campaign #3a concluded on 28 February. On 20 March the regular DDOR measurements were performed. A solar array tilt experiment was carried out on 25 March around the pericentre passage.

Report for Period 27 February to 26 March 2010

The reporting period covers four weeks of Rosetta mission operations. These were dedicated to further payload maintenance activities and a rehearsal of the flyby of asteroid Lutetia. The rehearsal of the asteroid flyby dynamics went very smoothly and gives good confidence in the spacecraft behaviour for the actual flyby in July 2010.

Report for period 19 February to 21 March 2010

Mission operations of the Herschel space observatory continued nominally during the reporting period, with the spacecraft and subsystems all performing as expected.

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during the reporting period. Two solar array tilting tests were successfully performed on 15 and 25 February. These were set up to validate a special solar array orientation for future atmospheric drag experiments. The last week in the reporting period saw the start of the Venus Express atmospheric drag experiment (ADE) campaign #3a, which runs from 22 to 28 February.

Main events and Activities

The Phobos flyby campaign has started. The campaign's first flyby was on 16 February when Mars Express passed the Martian moon at an altitude of 991 km. Three more Phobos flybys were completed within the following 12 days at increasingly smaller altitudes. The campaign continues with eight more flybys planned in March, and the closest flyby will be on 3 March. A set of manoeuvres on 15 and 22 February changed the spacecraft's orbit to a 131:37 resonance to facilitate the close Phobos flybys. This orbit resonance is an intermediate step to the final 88:25 resonance, to be reached in March at the end of the Phobos observation campaign.