No. 109 - Superior Conjunction Phase
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 |
| 345 | 10/12/08 | NNO 1749 | Spacecraft configuration for conjunction phase |
| 353 | 18/12/08 | NNO 1757 |
Monitoring |
| 357 | 22/12/08 | NNO 1761 |
Monitoring |
| 005 | 05/12/09 | NNO 1775 |
Monitoring |
| 012 | 12/01/09 | NNO 1782 |
Monitoring. |
At the end of the reporting period (DoY 016) Rosetta was at 479.74 million km from Earth (3.21 AU) and the one-way signal travel time was 1600 seconds. The distance to the Sun was 336.92 million km (2.25 AU). On 17 December 2008 Rosetta passed the aphelion of its current orbit around the Sun with a record distance of 338.63 million km (2.26 AU). On 25 December 2008 Rosetta was at the largest distance from the Earth reached so far: 485.12 million km (3.24 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 is OFF.
GIADA
The instrument is OFF.
On DoY 012 a new on-board control procedure (OBCP) was uplinked to handle emergency closure of the cover.
MIDAS
The instrument is OFF.
MIRO
The instrument is OFF.
OSIRIS
The instrument is OFF.
ROSINA
The instrument is OFF.
RPC
The instrument is OFF.
RSI
The instrument is muted.
VIRTIS
The instrument is OFF.
LANDER Philae
The instrument is OFF.
SREM
Since DoY 339/2008 the accumulation settings are configured for conjunction mode.
Future Milestones
The spacecraft has gone through the conjunction phase and will now undergo a check-out phase which will include a passive payload check-out and spacecraft maintenance activities.
The active cruising phase will continue till March 2009 when Deep Space Manoeuvre 4 will be conducted in preparation of the third and last Earth swing-by planned for 13 November 2009. The manoeuvre will be followed by a short tracking campaign with the spacecraft being configured for a near-Sun hibernation phase to last till beginning of September 2009.
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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, WOR #109. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.