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No. 213 - Pre-solar Conjunction Test

No. 213 - Pre-solar Conjunction Test

Report for Period 6 December to 12 December 2009The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. A pre-solar conjunction test was successfully performed at Cebreros on DOY 343. The outcome of the test was the final ground station configuration set-up that will be used during the upcoming phase of Venus Express superior conjunction operations. These operations will cover a period of about three weeks around the superior conjunction of Venus on 11 January 2010.

The table below shows a chronology of the main activities:

MET
(Day)
Date DOY Main Activity
1489 06/12/09 340

Communications pass over Cebreros

1490 07/12/09 341

Communications pass over Cebreros.
Telemetry bitrate decreased from 76 kbps to 57 kbps

1491 08/12/09 342

Communications pass over Cebreros

1492 09/12/09 343

Communications pass over Cebreros.
Pre-solar conjunction test at Cebreros

1493 10/12/09 344

Communications pass over Cebreros

1494 11/12/09 345

Communications pass over Cebreros

1495 12/12/09 346

Communications pass over Cebreros

At the end of the last Cebreros pass in the reporting period (DOY 346) Venus Express was orbiting Venus at 253 million km from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 843.4 seconds.

Spacecraft

Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS)
The AOCS is in its nominal configuration and performing nominally. Operations continue with all four reaction wheels. The friction levels on the four reaction wheels (RWs) remained stable throughout the reporting period. RW2 continued to show several spikes in its friction level (see status report no. 212).

Payload Activities

ASPERA
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

MAG
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

PFS
The instrument was not operated during the reporting period.

SPICAV
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

VeRA
No radio science observations were made during the reporting period.

VIRTIS
VIRTIS-M was operated in the visual channels only.

VMC
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.


Future Milestones

  • Venus at superior conjunction on 11 January 2010. Venus Express superior conjunction operations: 29 December 2009 to 22 January 2010


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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, MOR #213. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.

Last Update: 1 September 2019
28-Mar-2024 20:34 UT

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