No. 108 - Mission Operations Update
Spacecraft and ground segment performance during the reporting period have been nominal. Mission operations were conducted with the support of the ESA New Norcia (NNO) ground station.
| DOY | Date | Pass | Main Activity |
| 309 | 04/11/08 | NNO 1712 | RSI PC8 tests |
| 311 | 06/11/08 | NNO 1714 |
Monitoring |
| 317 | 12/11/08 | NNO 1720 |
Lander recovery activities |
| 319 | 14/11/08 | NNO 1722 |
Lander recovery activities |
| 323 | 18/11/08 | NNO 1726 |
COSIMA TMU recovery activities |
| 325 | 20/11/08 | NNO 1728 |
Monitoring |
| 331 | 26/11/08 | NNO 1734 |
New on-board control procedures (OBCPs) uplinked |
| 333 | 28/11/08 | NNO 1736 |
Monitoring |
| 337 | 02/12/08 | NNO 1740 |
Monitoring |
| 339 | 04/12/08 | NNO 1742 |
Monitoring |
At the end of the reporting period (DoY 340) Rosetta was at 480.46 million km from Earth (3.21 AU) and the one-way signal travel time was 1603 seconds. The distance to the Sun was 338.39 million km (2.26 AU).
Spacecraft
Payload
All instruments are now switched off except for the Standard Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM) that continues to run in the background.
ALICE
The instrument is OFF.
CONSERT
The instrument is OFF.
COSIMA
The instrument was activated between DoY 322 and 323 to perform a further investigation of the problem that occurred during the asteroid fly-by campaign, focussing on the instrument's Target Manipulation Unit (TMU). Software updates are required for the next active payload check-out in September 2009.
GIADA
The instrument is OFF.
MIDAS
The instrument is OFF. A new switch-ON OBCP has been uplinked and tested on DoY 331.
MIRO
The instrument is OFF.
OSIRIS
The instrument is OFF.
ROSINA
The instrument is OFF.
RPC
The instrument is OFF.
RSI
The check-out procedure linked to PC8 was run on DoY 309. The test will be repeated but with an updated procedure in the next test slot. The instrument is muted.
VIRTIS
The instrument is OFF.
LANDER Philae
The instrument was activated between DoY 316 and 319 for investigation of the anomalies that occurred in the CIVA and COSAC instruments during the last payload check-out phase. Both instruments worked properly during the tests therefore no further action was required. Further verifications will be performed in next check-out phases. The instrument is OFF.
SREM
Since DoY 339/2008 the accumulation settings are configured for conjunction mode.
Future Milestones
The spacecraft is about to enter the conjunction phase and all the commands required have been loaded on-board. The angular separation between the Earth and the Sun as seen from the spacecraft will stay below 3° (conjunction) between 17 December 2008 and 6 January 2009 with the minimum angular separation (1.65°) occurring on 27 December. On that day the minimum angle between the spacecraft and the Sun as seen from Earth will be 3.8°. No special activities are planned for this conjunction phase during which short weekly passes will be taken.
The spacecraft continues its fourth orbit around the Sun reaching aphelion on 17 December 2008 at a distance of 2.26 AU. It then heads back to Earth for the mission's last gravity assist and third Earth swing-by on 13 November 2009.
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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, WOR #108. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.