NEAR Shoemaker Update – December 8, 2000
MISSION OPERATIONS:
NEAR Shoemaker has successfully completed 200 km orbital operations and entered a 200 km x 35 km transfer orbit. The 200 km circular orbit, entered November 3rd at 03:00 UTC, was designed to allow the Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) to complete global mapping of the asteroids southern hemisphere. Having completed this mission phase, the spacecraft is transitioning to a 35 km circular orbit where the X-Ray / Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (XGRS) will be the prime instrument. Transitioning to the 35 km circular orbit requires two propulsive maneuvers. Orbit Correction Maneuver 19 (OCM 19) which successfully executed yesterday, December 7th at 15:20 UTC, initiated a 200 km x 35 km transfer orbit. This maneuver will be followed less than a week later by Orbit Correction Maneuver 20 (OCM 20), which will circularize the orbit at 35 km. OCM 20 is presently scheduled for December 13th at 20:40 UTC, but the exact execution time will change slightly once the post OCM 19 orbit has been determined.
Mission Operations attention has shifted to the January Close Flyby and End of Mission activities.
The spacecraft subsystem configuration has not changed during this reporting period.
As mentioned in last weeks status report, the XGRS GAS solar monitor had been disabled as a result of recent solar flare activity. As planned, this detector was returned to service a week ago Friday.
Except for the NIS, science activities conducted this week included Eros observations by the full instrument suite: MSI, MAG, XGRS and NLR. Please consult science timelines for more details.
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:
Dec 13 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 20 (35 km orbit circularization) Jan 24 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 21 (35 km x 21 km elliptical orbit) Jan 28 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 22 (35 km x 19 km elliptical orbit) Jan 28 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 23 (35 km orbit circularization)
