No. 100 - Active Payload Check-out 8
Operations have been nominal and the payload activities will continue according to the plan for the next two weeks.
A total of ten New Norcia (NNO) passes were taken during this period:
| DOY | Date | Pass | Main Activity |
| 189 | 07/07/08 | NNO 1592 | AOCS check-out 8 Data downlink for passive payload check-out (DoY 187-188) |
| 190 | 08/07/08 | NNO 1593 | AOCS check-out 8 |
| 191 | 09/07/08 | NNO 1594 | Payload check-out 8: COSIMA |
| 192 | 10/07/08 | NNO 1595 | Payload check-out 8: Lander, COSIMA |
| 193 | 11/07/08 | NNO 1596 | Payload check-out 8: RPC, Lander, COSIMA, OSIRIS |
| 196 | 14/07/08 | NNO 1599 | Payload check-out 8: ROSINA, OSIRIS, Lander |
| 197 | 15/07/08 | NNO 1600 | Payload check-out 8: ROSINA, RPC, MIDAS |
| 198 | 16/07/08 | NNO 1601 | Payload check-out 8: Lander |
| 199 | 17/07/08 | NNO 1602 | Payload check-out 8: Lander, MIDAS |
| 200 | 18/07/08 | NNO 1603 | Payload check-out 8: Lander |
At the end of the reporting period (DoY 200) Rosetta was at 251.7 million km from Earth (1.68 AU) and the one-way signal travel time was 840 seconds. The distance to the Sun was 295.88 million km (1.977 AU).
Spacecraft
Payload
Several instruments have been activated during the reporting period as planned for the payload check-out 8 activities. The highlights of the major events linked to these operations are given below for the different instruments:
ALICE
The instrument was activated twice as part of the passive check-out (DoY 187) and later (DoY 193) for an acquisition run.
CONSERT
The instrument was activated twice as part of the passive check-out (DoY 187) and later (DoY 200) for the interference test to be executed in the next reporting period.
COSIMA
COSIMA was activated once in the reporting period (DoY 191) for a full software uplink (v12) and testing of the high telemetry bit rate mode.
GIADA
The instrument was activated twice as part of the passive check-out (DoY 193) and for dedicated tests for Steins operations and context file recovery (DoY 188-195).
MIDAS
The instrument was activated twice as part of the passive check-out (DoY 187) and later (DoY 197) for a minor software uplink.
MIRO
The instrument was activated twice as part of the passive check-out (DoY 188) and later (DoY 197) for a dedicated test.
OSIRIS
The instrument software (four new User Defined Procedures) was updated and flight results show nominal behaviour with respect to the switch ON.
ROSINA
The instrument was activated on DoY 196 for a complete software update (v7.0) of the redundant side.
RPC
The instrument was activated three times (DoY 193, 195 and 197) for the Ion Electron Sensor (IES) software updates and dedicated tests.
RSI
The instrument is muted.
VIRTIS
The instrument is OFF.
LANDER Philae
The instrument was activated on DoY 191 for an extensive test session lasting several days. Most of the subsystems and instruments are being activated and tested as planned, including the uplink of the command and data management system (CDMS) software v6.98.
SREM
Since DoY 184/2008 the accumulation settings are configured for active cruise mode.
Future Milestones
The cruise phase continues towards asteroid Steins which will be encountered early September 2008. The active payload check-out 8 will last two more weeks. This will be followed by the optical navigation campaign required for the asteroid fly-by. This campaign will include imaging by the navigation camera (NAVCAM) and by the OSIRIS instrument.
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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, WOR #100. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.