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No. 177 - Mission Operations Update

No. 177 - Mission Operations Update

Report for Period 29 March to 4 April 2009The Venus Express spacecraft and payload performed nominally during the reporting period. Taking advantage of the high telemetry bit rates (228 and 182 kbps), this week had a high level of science data production.

The high bit rate is possible due to the currently smaller distance between Venus and the Earth - Venus was at inferior conjunction on 27 March, passing between the Earth and the Sun, and moving from eastern elongation (evening star) to western elongation (morning star) as observed from Earth.

The table below shows a chronology of the main activities:

MET
(Day)
Date DOY Main Activity
1237 29/03/09 088

Communications pass over Cebreros

1238 30/03/09 089

Communications pass over Cebreros

1239 31/03/09 090

Communications pass over Cebreros

1240 01/04/09 091

Communications pass over Cebreros.
Bitrate change to 182 Kbit/s

1241 02/04/09 092

Communications pass over Cebreros

1242 03/04/09 093

Communications pass over Cebreros

1243 04/04/09 094

Communications pass over Cebreros

At the end of the last Cebreros pass in the reporting period (DOY 094) Venus Express was orbiting Venus at 43.57 million km from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 145.35 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 measurements were taken during the reporting period.

VIRTIS
VIRTIS-M was operated in the visual channels only.

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

Future Milestones

  • Preparation for the next gravity observation campaign with the Canberra ground station CAN43 on 15 April 2009.
  • Battery Deep Discharge Test is planned for 22 April 2009.
  • Start of next (outbound) quadrature phase on 29 May 2009.
  • Swap of high gain antenna (HGA) from HGA2 to HGA1 on 8 June 2009.

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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, MOR #177. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.

Last Update: 1 September 2019
9-Dec-2024 10:35 UT

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