No. 189 - Gravity observation campaign
With less passes available to uplink all the required commands, Venus Express is using delayed telecommand files to store and call the commands on-board at a specific time.
VeRa gravity observation campaign
The mission's ninth gravity observation campaign (GRA#9) started this week. The campaign is part of the Venus Express Radio Science Investigations (RSI) performed under the Venus Radio Science experiment (VeRa). For these investigations the VeRa team makes use of the radio links of the spacecraft's communications system. The gravity observation campaign is set up to measure anomalies in the planet's gravitational field by analyzing the spacecraft's radio carrier signals received on ground, simultaneously in two radio bands. The detected anomalies provide insight into the properties of the crust and lithosphere of Venus.
The GRA#9 campaign is a set of four observations and is executed with the spacecraft's High Gain Antenna 1 (HGA1). The first observation was completed in this reporting period on 27 June.
The 70m NASA DSN ground station at Canberra, Australia, was used for receiving the spacecraft's radio signals in the gravity observation campaign.
The table below shows a chronology of the main activities:
| MET (Day) |
Date | DOY | Main Activity |
| 1321 | 21/06/09 | 172 |
Communications pass over Cebreros |
| 1322 | 22/06/09 | 173 |
Pass skipped |
| 1323 | 23/06/09 | 174 |
Communications pass over Cebreros. |
| 1324 | 24/06/09 | 175 |
Pass skipped |
| 1325 | 25/06/09 | 176 |
Communications pass over Cebreros |
| 1326 | 26/06/09 | 177 |
Pass skipped |
| 1327 | 27/06/09 | 178 |
Communications pass over Cebreros. |
At the end of the last Cebreros pass in the reporting period (DOY 178) Venus Express was orbiting Venus at 130.9 million km from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 436 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
RSI measurements for gravity observation campaign #9 were carried out on 27 June.
VIRTIS
VIRTIS-M was operated in the visual channels only.
VMC
The instrument was regularly operated as part of the routine plan.
Future Milestones
- End of current outbound quadrature phase: 3 July 2009
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Legal disclaimer
This report is based on the ESOC mission operations report, MOR #189. Please see the copyright section of the legal disclaimer (bottom of this page) for terms of use.