Mars Express Status- Week of 09-13 June 2003

Launch and Early Operations (LEOP) Completed / Near-Earth Verification Underway

Mars Express Launch and Early Operations (LEOP) have been completed as
planned.  Spacecraft operations are nominal.  ESOC Operations and Flight
Dynamic teams thanked us for the DSN tracking and navigation support that
they received since launch.

A five-week Near-Earth Verification stage of operations has started. 
Spacecraft commissioning started on June 9, 2003.  All four reaction
wheels are now being used.  The date for a switch from S-Band to X-Band
telecommunications has not been decided, although a X-Band test was
performed on Wednesday, June 11, 2003.  Science instrument and experiment
commissioning starts on June 16, 2003. After this Near-Earth
Verification, a key mid-course correction is scheduled for late-July,
seven weeks after launch.

Next Update in about a week after the operations and navigation telecon
that we have on Wednesday morning.