STARDUST Status Report

December 22, 1999

There were two scheduled Deep Space Network (DSN) passes this week with the STARDUST spacecraft, and all onboard subsystems were performing normally. There were two additional Payload Attitude Control Interface (PACI) board resets in the past week.

Battery conditioning by discharging the battery to 93% of its rating and overcharging it to 115% was completed successfully. This test was required to be completed prior to Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-A) and Deep Space Maneuver #1 (DSM-1), where the spacecraft will go totally off of sun pointing attitude for up to 1 hour maximum.

Preparations for the first Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-A) continue. The commands for TCM-A successfully passed Spacecraft Test Laboratory (STL) testing and review during a recent command conference and have been uploaded to the spacecraft.

The Multiple Firings Flight Software patch and command sequence for testing All-Stellar attitude are completing testing in the STL.

The final NASA-wide Y2K mission operations testing at JPL was completed successfully by STARDUST through support from the Mars Surveyor Operations Project (MSOP) and Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate (TMOD), providers of the STARDUST Ground Data System. No spacecraft commanding is planned during the Y2K transition, however spacecraft tracking will continue following TCM-A into the new year.

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