Genesis Update
25 Jul 2002
(Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
http://www.genesismission.org/mission/statusupdate.html Genesis Mission Status Update Genesis' fifth station-keeping maneuver was successfully completed on July 24th. Recently, the team has been testing to see how they can efficiently reduce the time needed for maneuvers. In this maneuver, the time allocated for damping of the induced nutation was reduced. Spacecraft performance was monitored and the spacecraft remained just as stable as previous maneuvers that took longer. All the subsystems performed normally during the maneuver. The maneuver was performed 23 degrees off-Sun (4 degrees off-Earth). Firing the small hydrazine thrusters for 322 seconds made the spacecraft's speed change by 1.46 meters per second (3.2 miles per hour). The Systems team did their typical great job supporting the maneuver and even supplied treats! Solar wind collection continues, except for a brief interruption during the maneuver. Over the last weekend, the concentrator reverted to non-collection mode briefly because of very high solar wind speeds and temperatures and then returned to normal operation.