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Report for Period 2 November to 8 November 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries continue to perform nominally during the eclipse season that started on 19 September and will end on 11 November. VIRTIS was only operated in the visual channels.

Report for Period 26 October to 1 November 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries continue to perform nominally during the eclipse season that started on 19 September and will end on 11 November.

Report for Period 19 October to 25 October 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries continue to perform nominally during the eclipse season that started on 19 September and will end on 11 November.

Report for Period 12 October to 18 October 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries continue to perform nominally during the eclipse season that started on 19 September.

Report for Period 5 October to 11 October 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries are performing nominally since the start of the eclipse season on 19 September.

Report for Period 28 September to 4 October 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries are performing nominally during the regular eclipses in the current eclipse season.

Report for Period 21 September to 27 September 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The batteries continue to perform nominally during the eclipse season that started on 19 September. As part of the routine operations, the voltage and current evolution is closely monitored during the eclipses. The eclipse season will last until 11 November.

Report for Period 14 September to 20 September 2008

Nominal Venus Express mission operations were conducted during the reporting period. The eclipse season started with the spacecraft passing daily through Venus's shadow from 19 September onward. During these brief daily eclipses the solar arrays are not illuminated by the Sun's light.

Report for Period 7 September to 13 September 2008

Nominal Venus Express mission operations were conducted during the reporting period.

Report for Period 31 August to 6 September 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. An orbit control manoeuvre (OCM) was successfully completed on 31 August (DoY 244). The manoeuvre constituted a phase correction, intended to keep the phasing of Venus Express in its orbit in sync with mission operations from ground. The downlink window with the Cebreros ground station needs to be kept in a certain time window.

Report for Period 24 August to 30 August 2008

Nominal operations were conducted during the reporting period. The atmospheric drag experiment measurement passes associated with the pericentre altitude lowering campaign have now concluded.

Report for Period 17 August to 23 August 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period. Five successive passes around pericentre were devoted to spacecraft tracking as part of the atmospheric drag experiment (ADE).

Report for Period 10 August to 16 August 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period.

Report for Period 3 August to 9 August 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period. The fourth and final pair of Orbit Control Manoeuvres (OCMs) to lower the pericenter altitude and to raise the apocentre altitude was executed. For the first time, there have been clear indications of a very low level of atmospheric drag causing an estimated reduction in apocentre altitude of 6-7 metres at each pericentre passage.

Report for Period 27 July to 2 August 2008

Report for Period 20 July to 26 July 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period. During this period the second pair of Orbit Control Manoeuvres (OCM) to reduce the pericentre altitude and to raise the apocentre altitude was executed. Planning of the third pair was performed and commands were uploaded to the spacecraft for execution during the next reporting period.

Report for Period 13 July to 19 July 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period. During this period the first pair of Orbit Control Manoeuvres (OCM) to reduce the pericentre altitude and to raise the apocentre altitude was executed. Planning of the second pair was performed and commands were uploaded to the spacecraft for execution during the next reporting period.

Report for Period 6 July to 12 July 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period.

Between 13 July and 5 August 2008 a series of manoeuvres is performed to lower the pericentre altitude of Venus Express (see also the link on the right hand side for more details). The first pair of manoeuvres (one manoeuvre to raise the apocentre altitude and one to lower the pericentre altitude) was planned and uploaded to the spacecraft. The two manoeuvres will be executed during the next reporting period.

Report for Period 29 June to 5 July 2008

All operations have been nominal during the reporting period. The telecommunication (TC) bit rate has been increased to 2 kbps.

Report for Period 22 June to 28 June 2008

The reporting period was the first complete week of nominal science operations after the solar conjunction phase.