ESA Science & Technology - No. 33 - Routine Science Operations

The table below shows a chronology of the main activities in the reporting period:

At the end of the last Cebreros pass in the reporting period (DOY 175, 14:00) Venus Express was orbiting Venus at 200.5 million km from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 668 seconds.

Payload Activities

ASPERA
The instrument is regularly operated.

MAG
The instrument is regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

PFS
The instrument is currently OFF and is not included in the routine planning. Any further attempt to move the scanner is now suspended until further notice.

SPICAV
The instrument is regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

VeRA
A third bistatic radar observation has been conducted in the reporting period. As for the first two observations some evidence of echoes have been seen in real-time at the DSN Canberra station, data are now being processed by the PI teams for further evidence.

VIRTIS
The instrument is regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

VMC
The instrument is regularly operated as part of the routine plan.

Ground Segment

During the reporting period Venus Express has been supported by daily passes with Cebreros.

The Bistatic Radar operation has been conducted with the support of the Canberra DSN station. Operations were successful and data are being analysed.

Future Milestones

Operations for the next weeks have been duly planned and the routine science phase will continue according to the plan. The next reporting period will be the final commanding cycle of MTP002.

The Earth occultations season will start on 11 July and will continue untill the end of August. Several radio science observations have been scheduled for this time frame.

The next milestone for the mission is the preparation of the Mission Commissioning Results Review to be held end of June.