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| No. 188 - Quadrature Operations |
Report for Period 14 June to 20 June 2009 The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. As part of the quadrature operations the Venus Express spacecraft is flying a tilted attitude during Earth contact with the Cebreros ground station. The 10° attitude tilt with respect to the non-quadrature Earth pointing attitude requires an extended cool-down period for the spacecraft afterwards, before resuming with science pointings. As a result, Cebreros passes - each lasting about 8 hours and nominally performed once every 24-hour orbit - are routinely skipped to allow more time for science pointings. Only three passes were performed in this reporting period as opposed to the usual seven daily passes. |
| Date: 24 Jun 2009 |
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| No. 187 - High Gain Antenna Swap |
Report for Period 7 June to 13 June 2009 The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. The swap from High Gain Antenna 2 (HGA2) to HGA1 and the associated 180° flip of the spacecraft around its Z-axis were successfully executed prior to the Cebreros ground station pass on 8 June (DOY 159). |
| Date: 17 Jun 2009 |
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| No. 186 - Quadrature Operations |
Report for Period 31 May to 6 June 2009
The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week of quadrature operations. The spacecraft entered the current quadrature phase on 29 May. These phases occur regularly and are defined by the periods in the orbit of the planet Venus during which the Sun-spacecraft-Earth angle is between 75° and 95°. |
| Date: 10 Jun 2009 |
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| No. 185 - Start of Quadrature Operations |
Report for Period 24 May to 30 May 2009 The Venus Express spacecraft and instruments performed nominally during this week. On 29 May the spacecraft entered a new quadrature phase. These phases occur in pairs (inbound and outbound) and are defined by the periods in the orbit of the planet Venus during which the Sun-spacecraft-Earth angle is between 75° and 95°. |
| Date: 03 Jun 2009 |
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| No. 114 - Passive Cruise Phase |
Report for Period 2 May to 29 May 2009 The reporting period covers four weeks in the passive cruise phase #6, which started on 2 April. During this phase the Rosetta spacecraft is configured in Near Sun Hibernation Mode (NSHM) and will remain so until beginning of September. During the reporting period the performance of the spacecraft and the ground segment have been nominal. |
| Date: 03 Jun 2009 |
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