No. 145 - Atmospheric Drag Experiment
The ADE measurements were taken with Deep Space Network (DSN) ground stations on DOY 231, 233, 235 and with the New Norcia (NNO) ground station on DOY 232 and 234.
Several reaction wheel off-loadings were performed near the end of Cebreros (CEB) ground station passes preceding the ADE measurements. This is to obtain one hour of good spacecraft tracking right after the reaction wheel off-loading, minimizing the impact of the reaction wheel off-loading on the orbit determination.
The table below shows a chronology of the main activities in the reporting period:
| MET (Day) | Date | DOY | Main Activity |
| 1013 | 17/08/08 | 230 | Routine Operations. Reaction wheel off-loading, one hour before end of pass (CEB) |
| 1014 | 18/08/08 | 231 | Routine Operations. Reaction wheel off-loading, one hour before end of pass (CEB). Atmospheric drag experiment pass (DSN) |
| 1015 | 19/08/08 | 232 | Routine Operations. Reaction wheel off-loading, one hour before end of pass (CEB). Atmospheric drag experiment pass (NNO) |
| 1016 | 20/08/08 | 233 |
Routine Operations. |
| 1017 | 21/08/08 | 234 | Routine Operations. Reaction wheel off-loading, one hour before end of pass (CEB). Atmospheric drag experiment pass (NNO) |
| 1018 | 22/08/08 | 235 |
Routine Operations. |
| 1019 | 23/08/08 | 236 | Routine Operations |
At the end of the last Cebreros pass in the reporting period (DOY 236) Venus Express was orbiting Venus at 235.498 million km from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 783 seconds.
Payload Activities
ASPERA
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.
MAG
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.
PFS
The instrument was not operated during the reporting period.
SPICAV
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.
VeRA
No observations were made during the reporting period.
VIRTIS
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.
VMC
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.
Future Milestones
- High gain antenna (HGA1) S-band carrier power test is planned for 15 December 2008
- Next quadrature phase will start on 19 December 2008
---
Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, MOR #145. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.