Stardust Status Report 9 June 2000
There were seven Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking passes during the past
week. All subsystems are onboard the spacecraft are performing normally.
These DSN passes were used to obtain tracking data for the Navigation
Team to reconstruct Trajectory Correction Maneuver 3 (TCM 3) as well
as continue to study the small forces acting upon the STARDUST
spacecraft when the attitude jets fire.
During TCM 3, direct data paths from the nominal DSN tracking
stations to JPL were not operating properly; therefore STARDUST data
were routed through the Emergency Control Center (ECC) at Goldstone,
the first use of this new facility.
Five more Navigation Camera images were downlinked, bringing the
total number of images sent to the ground at approximately twenty-six
out of the 28.
Eight members of the STARDUST Project actively supported the JPL Open
House this past weekend, describing missions to small bodies to the public,
including STARDUST.
For more information on the STARDUST mission – the first ever
comet sample return mission – please visit the STARDUST home page:
