No. 63 - Formal Start of Mars Swingby Phase
The instruments remained off during the reporting period, except for SREM which was kept active in the background for the entire period.
A total of 4 New Norcia (NNO) passes of 8.3 hours commanding were taken during the reporting period. TM/TC links with the Operations Control Centre have been established for all NNO passes. In addition, two proficiency tracks and two Delta-DOR test tracks were scheduled with DSN.
| NNO Pass |
Date | DOY |
Main Activity |
| 885 | 01.08.06 | 213 | Monitor pass - Near Sun Hibernation Mode Telemetry Dumps |
| 886 | 02.08.06 | 214 | Monitor pass - Near Sun Hibernation Mode Telemetry Dumps |
| 893 | 09.08.06 | 221 | Monitor pass - OBCP Maintenance, Attitude guidance updated prior to AOS |
| 900 | 16.08.06 | 228 | Monitor pass - SSMM Files Maintenance |
At the end of the reporting period (DOY 230) Rosetta was at 294.4 million km from Earth (1.97 AU; one-way signal travel time was 15 minutes 46 seconds). The distance to the Sun was 162.8 million km (1.09 AU).
Spacecraft Status
Thermal
The thermal behaviour of the spacecraft is nominal and stable. It remains configured for Active Near Sun cruise (ACM1 since DOY 207/2006).
The temperature of the tanks is being closely monitored to ensure balanced temperatures for the upcoming Deep Space Manoeuvre at the end of September. At the end of the reporting period, the NTO and MMH tank temperatures were both very close to 39 °C, leading to tank pressures of 16.56 bar for the NTO tank and 16.26 bar for the MMH tank.
Payload
The dump of the RPC science data generated during the observation of comet Honda between DOY 185 and 189 was completed on-ground on DOY 215.
SREM remains active in the background for radiation monitoring with accumulation parameters configured for active cruise.
Future Milestones
The Mars Swingby Phase formally started on 28 July. The phase includes two Deep Space Manoeuvres in September 2006 and April 2007, while the actual swingby will take place on 25 February 2007.
Upcoming short-term operations include a payload passive checkout (PC3) and two thermal characterisations in August/September and the first payload Active Checkout (PC4) in November/December.