No. 143 - Deep-space telecommand testing
During the reporting period mission operations were conducted using the ESA New Norcia (NNO) ground station and DSS-43 (Canberra, 70 m) NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna.
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Main activities during reporting period | |||
| DoY | Date | Pass | Activity |
| 214 | 02-Aug-2010 | NNO 2350 | Monitor |
| 215 | 03-Aug-2010 | NNO 2351 | Monitor |
| 218 | 06-Aug-2010 | NNO 2354 | Monitor |
| 221 | 09-Aug-2010 | NNO 2357 | Monitor |
| 223 | 11-Aug-2010 | NNO 2359 | Monitor |
| 225 | 13-Aug-2010 | NNO 2361 | Monitor |
| 228 | 16-Aug-2010 | NNO 2364 | Monitor |
| 230 | 18-Aug-2010 | NNO 2366 | Monitor |
| 232 | 20-Aug-2010 | DS-43 2368 NNO 2368 |
HGA strobing test and LGA TC link test |
| 235 | 23-Aug-2010 | NNO 2371 | Monitor |
| 237 | 25-Aug-2010 | NNO 2373 | Monitor |
| 239 | 27-Aug-2010 | NNO 2375 | Monitor |
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DoY = Day of year | |||
At the end of the reporting period on 27 August, Rosetta was 576 million km from Earth (3.85 AU); the one-way signal travel time was 32 min 02 sec (1922 sec). The spacecraft's distance from the Sun was 456.5 million km (3.05 AU).
High-gain antenna strobing test; low-gain antenna telecommand test
During the hibernation entry window next year, Rosetta will be between 3.7 and 4.4 AU from Earth. At those distances and once Rosetta is spinning, it will be necessary to be able to command Rosetta using the LGA and to detect the strobing signal coming from the HGA.
On 20 August, a test was conducted to characterise the telecommand link to the LGA and detection of the HGA strobing signal at 3.75 AU from Earth. It was possible to command the spacecraft using the LGA at 7.8 bps from the New Norcia and DSS-43 ground stations. Both stations detected the HGA strobing signal; this signal was obtained by commanding the HGA to sweep the Earth several times, simulating a strobing signal.
Spacecraft
| Payload Status | |
| ALICE | The instrument is currently OFF |
| CONSERT | The instrument is currently OFF |
| COSIMA | The instrument is currently OFF |
| GIADA | The instrument is currently OFF |
| MIDAS | The instrument is currently OFF |
| MIRO | The instrument is currently OFF |
| OSIRIS | The instrument is currently OFF |
| ROSINA | The instrument is currently OFF |
| RPC | The instrument is currently OFF |
| RSI | The USO is ON/muted since 3 February 2010 (DoY 032/2010) |
| VIRTIS | The instrument is currently OFF |
| Lander (Philae) | The instrument is currently OFF |
| SREM | The instrument is ON with standard settings since 3 February 2010 (DoY 032/2010) |
Future milestones
The reporting period was a bridging phase between the last science phase of the mission before hibernation and the real deep-space mission. The spacecraft has now crossed the boundary of 3 AU heliocentric distance and is entering the real deep-space phase. Activities are now focused on hibernation entry and a successful comet rendezvous; as part of this, a first solar array performance test is planned before the conjunction phase.
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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, WOR #143. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (linked from the home page http://sci.esa.int) for terms of use.