STARDUST Status Report

August 20, 1999

What was planned as a busy week for STARDUST turned out to be a quiet week instead. A decision was made last Friday, August 13, to delay the All-Stellar demonstration and transition until the Payload and Attitude Control Interface (PACI) board reset problem is better understood.

The Anomaly Investigation Team is still working on the problem. The interrupt of the Star Camera PACI transfer sequence has been reproduced in the Spacecraft Test Laboratory. If the root cause is not readily found, consideration is being given to a flight software patch that would re-enable operation if an interrupt occurred again.

More than normal tracking coverage was available this period, planned for the All-Stellar transition with tracks on August 14, 17, and 18. Background flight sequence SC008, which will run for four weeks, started on August 16. The spacecraft remains in a nominal mode, the Cometary Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) and Dust Flux Monitor (DFM) instruments are powered off.

A very successful, and well received, Stardust Teachers Workshop was held on August 16 through 19 at JPL. There were seminars and hands-on activities, and tours of the JPL Oak Grove facility and the Goldstone Tracking Complex (while the 34-meter antenna (DSS-25) was tracking the STARDUST spacecraft).

For more information on the STARDUST mission - the first ever comet sample return mission - please visit the STARDUST home page: