NEAR Shoemaker Status Report 1 September 2000

MISSION OPERATIONS:
 
NEAR Shoemaker continues to operate in a 50 km x 100km transfer orbit and will remain in this orbit until September 5th.  The spacecraft
configuration has not changed during this reporting period. 
 
Orbit Correction Maneuver 12 (OCM 12) was successfully executed on  August 26 at 23:25 UT placing NEAR in a 50km x 100km transfer orbit that will be circularized at 100km with OCM 13 on September 5th at approximately  23:00 UT (7:00pm EDT).  This orbit, and the 200km orbit that follows, will permit mapping of Eros’s surface to be completed. Several MSI Star field images will be taken during OCM 13 to assess spacecraft jitter during an OCM.
 
All planned science activities executed as planned this week with MSI, MAG, XGRS and NLR instruments.  Please consult science timelines for more details.
 
Preparations for the October close flyby are proceeding as planned.  The NEAR Navigation team released a  preliminary trajectory this week for mission planning purposes that places NEAR on a close flyby trajectory of 5 km with respect to one of Eros’s tips.
 
Upcoming Spacecraft Activities:
 
In addition to regular Eros Science and Optical Navigation, the following are operationally significant activities planned for the NEAR Shoemaker mission operation:
 
Sep  5  Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 13  (100 km orbit circularization) Oct  12 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 14  (100 km x 50 km transfer orbit) Oct  20 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 15  (50 km orbit circularization)