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Report for Period 9 August to 15 August 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The seventh Earth occultation season is ongoing, with two observations carried out in this reporting period. On DOY 224 the regular DDOR measurements were performed.

Report for Period 2 August to 8 August 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The seventh Earth occultation season is ongoing, with three observations carried out in this reporting period.

Report for Period 26 July to 1 August 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The seventh Earth occultation season is ongoing, with three observations performed in this reporting period. An orbit control manoeuvre (OCM) was carried out in the night of 25-26 July between 23:06 and 02:07 UT. This manoeuvre constitutes a phase correction to keep the phasing of Venus Express in its orbit in sync with mission operations from ground.

Report for Period 19 July to 25 July 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The seventh Earth occultation season is ongoing, with six observations carried out in this reporting period. On DOY 206 the regular DDOR measurements were performed.

Report for Period 12 July to 18 July 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The mission's seventh season of Earth occultation experiments started on 16 July 2009.

Report for Period 5 July to 11 July 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week.

Report for Period 28 June to 4 July 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during the last week of quadrature operations. The spacecraft remained in quadrature configuration until 3 July, DOY 185. As part of the quadrature operations the Venus Express spacecraft flew a tilted attitude during Earth contact with the Cebreros ground station. The 10° attitude tilt with respect to the non-quadrature Earth pointing attitude requires an extended cool-down period for the spacecraft afterwards, before resuming with science pointings. As a result, Cebreros passes - each lasting about 8 hours and nominally performed once every 24-hour orbit - were routinely skipped to allow more time for science pointings. Only four passes were performed in this reporting period as opposed to the usual seven daily passes.

Report for Period 21 June to 27 June 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. As part of the quadrature operations the Venus Express spacecraft is flying a tilted attitude during Earth contact with the Cebreros ground station. The 10° attitude tilt with respect to the non-quadrature Earth pointing attitude requires an extended cool-down period for the spacecraft afterwards, before resuming with science pointings. As a result, Cebreros passes - each lasting about 8 hours and nominally performed once every 24-hour orbit - are routinely skipped to allow more time for science pointings. Only four passes were performed in this reporting period as opposed to the usual seven daily passes.

Report for Period 14 June to 20 June 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. As part of the quadrature operations the Venus Express spacecraft is flying a tilted attitude during Earth contact with the Cebreros ground station. The 10° attitude tilt with respect to the non-quadrature Earth pointing attitude requires an extended cool-down period for the spacecraft afterwards, before resuming with science pointings. As a result, Cebreros passes - each lasting about 8 hours and nominally performed once every 24-hour orbit - are routinely skipped to allow more time for science pointings. Only three passes were performed in this reporting period as opposed to the usual seven daily passes.

Report for Period 7 June to 13 June 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. The swap from High Gain Antenna 2 (HGA2) to HGA1 and the associated 180° flip of the spacecraft around its Z-axis were successfully executed prior to the Cebreros ground station pass on 8 June (DOY 159).

Report for Period 31 May to 6 June 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. The spacecraft entered the current quadrature phase on 29 May. These phases occur regularly and are defined by the periods in the orbit of the planet Venus during which the Sun-spacecraft-Earth angle is between 75° and 95°.

Report for Period 24 May to 30 May 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. On 29 May the spacecraft entered a new quadrature phase. These phases occur in pairs (inbound and outbound) and are defined by the periods in the orbit of the planet Venus during which the Sun-spacecraft-Earth angle is between 75° and 95°.

Report for Period 17 May to 23 May 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. Use of the Cebreros ground station was required during the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) of the Herschel and Planck missions, which were launched on 14 May. This has had an impact on a few communication passes for Venus Express that are performed daily with the Cebreros ground station.

Report for Period 10 May to 16 May 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The dual launch of Herschel and Planck on 14 May required the use of the Cebreros ground station for spacecraft communications during the missions' launch and early orbit phase. This has had an impact on a few communication passes for Venus Express, which are performed daily with the Cebreros ground station, shortening them by 2-3 hours.

Report for Period 3 May to 9 May 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. The dual launch of Herschel and Planck on 14 May has an impact on the Cebreros ground station passes, shortening them by 2-3 hours during about 10 days.

Report for Period 26 April to 2 May 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. An orbit control manoeuvre (OCM) was successfully carried out on 26 April (DOY 116) and the mission's seventh gravity observation campaign was completed.

Report for Period 19 April to 25 April 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and payload performed nominally during the reporting period. The mission's sixth gravity observation campaign has been performed on 20 April. A battery deep discharge test has been performed on 22 April to obtain measurements for updating/improvement of the battery models.

Report for Period 12 April to 18 April 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and payload performed nominally during the reporting period. On DOY 106 the monthly DDOR measurements were taken. On DOY 106 and 107 star tracker B (STR B) has been used in CCD Health Check mode to obtain small mosaic images.

Report for Period 5 April to 11 April 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and payload performed nominally during the reporting period.

Report for Period 29 March to 4 April 2009

The Venus Express spacecraft and payload performed nominally during the reporting period. Taking advantage of the high telemetry bit rates (228 and 182 kbps), this week had a high level of science data production.