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Mission Status 2010
Kevin V. Gilliland Stardust Spacecraft Team
September 1, 2010
All subsystems are nominal. Stardust has now passed perihelion. The minimum distance to the Sun on this orbit was approximately 0.97 AU. The range to the Sun will reach 1.55 AU by the February 2011 Tempel-1 Encounter. Thermal engineering celebrated passing the milestone, and looks forward to cooler temperatures. Testing of the Encounter sequence continues. Background sequence SN041 is on board and executing.
August 25, 2010
All subsystems are nominal. Thermal engineers continue to closely monitor all component temperatures, as the spacecraft is less than 1 AU (approximately 90,000,000 miles) from the Sun. Propulsion engineering reports that daily fuel consumption is approximately 4.3 grams per day, and indicates smooth and efficient thruster control. The team is currently focused on testing of the Encounter sequence, and is working to detail the attitude profile through the February 2011 encounter.
August 18, 2010
Last week, the Navigation Camera calibrations were completed. All images have been successfully downlinked and analyzed. The calibration was done to assess the presence of background noise in images. The results are being analyzed in order to plan our approach image commanding. Thermal and Power engineers have been monitoring the battery temperature, and it has now cooled to a comfortable +5 degC. Stardust’s encounter with Tempel-1 is just 180 days away. The comet is now less than 150,000,000 miles away and closing.
August 11, 2010
All subsystems are nominal. This week, Stardust is conducting calibrations of its Navigation Camera. The calibration includes several images of the star Regulus. The images are taken before and after a period of heating, which is done using the camera's heaters as well as turning the spacecraft to place the Sun on the camera. Thermal engineering continues to be challenged by Stardust being near the Sun. The spacecraft is just inside 1 AU.
August 4, 2010
All subsystems are nominal following yesterday's Trajectory Correction Maneuver, TCM-29A. The burn provided approximately 0.7 m/s change in velocity, with the engines firing for 38.2 seconds. All spacecraft telemetry indicates a successful maneuver. The Navigation team will be monitoring ranging data for the next several passes to assess the burn's effect on our trajectory. The team is working to prepare a series of image commands to help calibrate the Navigation Camera. The calibration sequence will be sent to the spacecraft later this week.
