Cassini Significant Events 06/15/06 – 06/19/06

Cassini Significant Events 06/15/06 - 06/19/06

June 22, 2006

(Source: Cassini Project)

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired Monday, June 19, from the
Goldstone tracking stations. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state
of health and is operating normally. Information on the present position and
speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web
page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm .


This week is a short status week covering Thursday, June 15 through Monday, June 19. Tuesday and Wednesday the 20th and 21st will be included in the report for next week.


Thursday, June 15 (166):


Science activities this week are similar to the previous week. The pattern of Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) observations, followed by Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) controlling the spacecraft orientation for the
Magnetospheric and Plasma Science instruments, followed by Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) observations continues until June 18.


On Sunday, June 18, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) measured oxygen compounds of H2O and CO2 in Saturn's stratosphere for almost 14 hours. These measurements continued on Monday, June 19, and Tuesday, June 20, but were preceded by the acquisition of an image of Iapetus by ISS.


The spacecraft operations office successfully completed an Operational Readiness Test today. This test exercised the flight team in a worst-case response for the Titan 16 flyby on July 22. Should the spacecraft enter safe mode following a loss of attitude when Cassini passes by at an altitude of 950 km, the team will be well practiced in how to respond.


Friday, June 16 (DOY 167):


At least four Cassini images are included in the Astronomy Picture of the Day mosaic celebrating the 11th anniversary of that organization.


The sequence leads for S22 are still in negotiations with the DSN and the STEREO mission to obtain the necessary passes to support data acquisition during that sequence. A DSS-14 pass has been obtained by Cassini on DOY 224
to help alleviate coverage lost on DOY 223. There is a large impact to members of the sequence team when DSN coverage changes this late in the process. At the beginning of the process, a DSN allocation file is provided
to the team that confirms when data will be downlinked. If that information changes, new sequence files must be created, and submitted, and then revised, and resubmitted each time the coverage changes. At the very end of the process, if not enough passes are found to match what was originally planned for, science data will have to be cut.


Monday, June 19 (DOY 170):

The Instrument Operations Multi-Mission Image Processing Laboratory has delivered to "test" the latest set of fixes and enhancements to ground software. This software set will be tested and then delivered for operations
use in September.


Today is the first day of the Project Science Group (PSG) meeting being held in Nantes, France. The PSG meets three times a year to report on the latest Cassini science findings, receive an overview of project status, and to
discuss issues of importance to the scientists. Today the Titan science group and Radar Team will be meeting to discuss topics of significance to their members.


Wrap up:


Check out the Cassini web site at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov for the latest
press releases and images.


The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the
Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.