NEAR Update 21 July 2000

MISSION OPERATIONS:
 
NEAR Shoemaker successfully entered a 35 km circular orbit around the asteroid Eros last Friday, July 14 at 00:30 UTC, and continues to operate in that orbit.  After entering the 35 km orbit, post burn critical opnavs were collected and recovered, and the next four days were spent sun-pointing to refine the gravitational field model.  The remaining period in this orbit is allocated to XGRS for prime science data collection.
 
During this past week, NEAR Shoemaker remained in Operational Mode with Flight Computer #1 and Attitude Interface Unit #2 in control of spacecraft attitude.  Except for the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIS), the spacecraft instrument suite remained "ON" and operational this week.
 
Orbit Correction Maneuver 8 (OCM 8), performed near periapse of the 35 km x 50 km transfer orbit, placed the spacecraft in a nominal 35 km circular orbit relative to the center of Eros.  According to the mission plan, the spacecraft is scheduled to remain in this orbit until July 24 at 17:00 UTC. Today is currently the eighth day of 35 km orbital operations.  In approximately two and a half days, Orbit Correction Maneuver 9 (OCM 9) will terminate this first sojourn to 35 km by initiating a 35 km x 50 km transfer orbit.
 
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:
 
July 24  Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 9  (35 km x 50 km transfer orbit) July 31  Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 10  (50 km orbit circularization) Aug  9  Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 11 (50 km orbit – plane change) Aug  26  Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 12 (50 km x 100 km transfer orbit)