Significant Event Report for Week Ending 10/10/2003

Cassini Significant Event Report

For Week Ending 10/10/03

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the tracking station on Monday, October 6. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the spacecraft's position and speed can be viewed on the "Present Position" web page.

Imaging Science Subsystem, Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS), and Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) participated in observations of several stars for instrument calibration purposes. In addition UVIS and VIMS performed a solar port calibration. In preparation for next week's activities, RADAR instrument expanded block trigger commands and commands to reroute REU data were uplinked to the spacecraft, and Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) performed quiet test #2.

As part of the Ka-band Translator (KaT) recovery efforts, and at the recommendation of members of the Radio Science Team, the KaT was turned off via a real-time command for an undetermined number of days during the Quiet Test.

Preliminary and official port 3 deliveries were completed as part of the cruise C42 science planning team process.

All teams and offices presented at the two-day Approach Science / Tour operations readiness review that was conducted this week. The review board members were highly complimentary of the volume of work that has been completed and the state of readiness that the Cassini team has achieved.

Additional information about Cassini-Huygens is online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Cassini will begin orbiting Saturn on July 1, 2004, and release its piggybacked Huygens probe about six months later for descent through the thick atmosphere of the moon Titan. Cassini-Huygens is a cooperative mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

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