No. 133 - Start of Conjunction Phase Operations
During the conjunction phase, the telecommunication (TC) bit rate was temporarily increased to 2 kbps during the daily test commanding period.
The table below shows a chronology of the main activities in the reporting period:
| MET (Day) | Date | DOY | Main Activity |
| 929 | 25/05/08 | 146 | Routine Operations. TC link monitor time out parameter set to 37440 minutes (26d), for conjunction period |
| 930 | 26/05/08 | 147 | Routine Operations. TC link monitor time out parameter set to 36000 minutes (25d), for conjunction period |
| 931 | 27/05/08 | 148 |
Routine Operations. |
| 932 | 28/05/08 | 149 | Routine Operations. TC link monitor time out parameter set to 33120 minutes (23d) |
| 933 | 29/05/08 | 150 | Pass dedicated only to the retrieval of PFR. TC link monitor time out parameter set to 31680 minutes (22d). After the pass, a new time correlation was performed: validity as from 2008.150.15.44 |
| 934 | 30/05/08 | 151 | Superior conjunction operations. TM data rate was decreased to 297 bps. TC link monitor time out parameter set to 30240 minutes (21d) |
| 935 | 31/05/08 | 152 | Superior conjunction operations. TC link monitor time out parameter set to 28800 minutes (20d). TC bit rate was changed to 2 kbps, in order to uplink a command stack for test purposes. TC bit rate changed back to 250 bps at 12.00 UT |
At the end of the last Cebreros pass in the reporting period (DOY 152) Venus Express was orbiting Venus at 259.3 million km from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 864 seconds.
Payload Activities
ASPERA
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan, except from 30 May onwards, with the start of the superior conjunction operations.
MAG
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan, except from 30 May onwards, with the start of the superior conjunction operations.
PFS
The instrument was not operated during the reporting period.
SPICAV
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan, except from 30 May onwards, with the start of the superior conjunction operations.
VeRA
No observations were made during the reporting period.
VIRTIS
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan, except from 30 May onwards, with the start of the superior conjunction operations.
VMC
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan, except from 30 May onwards, with the start of the superior conjunction operations.
Future Milestones
- Release of the HGA-1 S-band anomaly report
- In preparation for the combined activity of VERA occultation plus drag measurements, the feasibility of two way link with USO (ultra-stable oscillator) configuration is being investigated. These combined activities will take place during two days via New Norcia and another 2 days via DSN station by end July, begin August. A timeline for these operations will be provided to VSOC
- Solar conjunction HGA-1 gain check: the uplink and downlink carrier power in X-band via HGA-1 will be measured and recorded during and after the superior conjunction
- Organise an S-band carrier power test after solar conjunction
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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, MOR #133. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.