http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=36069

Rosetta Configured For Cruise
European Space Agency
November 2, 2004

Report for week 15 to 22 October

The Rosetta commissioning phase was completed in the beginning of the reporting period, with the last main activities on the TTC subsystem, involving MGA pattern calibration and S-band tests with LGA and HGA.

The spacecraft was configured for cruise on 17 October, including switching off of one of the four reaction wheels. Due to inconsistent setting of the wheel speeds this action triggered an autonomous wheel offloading. For this reason an additional wheel offloading was carried out on the following day, in order to reset the speed levels to the originally planned ones.

The payload was off during the entire period. SREM was activated for background radiation monitoring on 21 October, after updating of the relevant OBCP.

Full daily passes over the New Norcia station were taken on 15 and 16 October. In addition, three short passes were taken and two skipped. On 15 October the last DSN pass of the commissioning phase was taken, over DSS-25.

The table below shows a chronology of the main activities in the reporting period:

Mission Date DOY Main Activity
Day
228 15/16.10.04 289/290 MGA pattern calibration
229 16/17.10.04 290/291 LGA TC threshold test and HGA-S TM/TC test
230 17/18.10.04 291/292 Spacecraft configuration for Cruise
231 18/19.10.04 292/293 Contingency Wheel-Offloading
232 19/20.10.04 293/294 Skipped pass
233 20/21.10.04 294/295 Skipped pass
234 21/22.10.04 295/296 Weekly MTL uplink + SREM reactivation

At the end of the last New Norcia pass in the reporting period (DOY 289) Rosetta was at 63.4 million kilometres from the Earth. The one-way signal travel time was 3 minutes 31 seconds.

Please note: due to the low level of activity planned for the upcoming weeks, the next report will be issued in four weeks time on 19 November.