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NEAR Settles Into Orbit
Laurel - March 6, 2000 - The NEAR satellite continued to operate nominally this past week in orbit around the asteroid Eros. NEAR has been in Operational Mode with Flight Computer #1 and Attitude Interface Unit #2 in control. All instruments remained "ON" during this week. S/C attitude pointing continues to alternate between Eros nadir proximity pointing, Earth pointing, and Sun pointing as required to conduct Eros orbital operations. Since Orbit Correction Maneuver 1 (OCM 1) on 2/24/00, NEAR has been in a 203 km x 362 km orbit around Eros. OCM 2 will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. EST today placing NEAR in a near circular orbit of 204 x 200 km. NEAR will stay in this orbit until April 1,2000. The remaining instrument to be turned on post orbit insertion, the NLR, was turned on February 25. Test firings performed in the following days included several successful range measurements at approximately 290 km altitude. Congratulations to the NLR Team! An MSI anomaly occurred during a Multispectral Rotation Sequence on February 25 and 29 with MSI DPU operations halting while processing a command macro. A work around in MSI commanding has been implemented while this problem is under investigation. This anomaly temporarily interrupted MSI science and Optical Navigation required for OCM 2 however a quick response by Navigation and Mission Operations got the MSI on-line with a work around in place in time to maintain the OCM 2 timeline. Science activities conducted this week included Eros "high altitude" observations with the MSI, NIS, and MAG instruments. These have included a combination of the following activities on a regular basis:
Prime MSI science in the 200-Km orbit was scheduled to begin on March 5th, several days earlier than originally planned. Upcoming Spacecraft Activities: In addition to regular Eros tracking and optical navigation, the following are operationally significant activities planned: Please consult NEAR science timelines for more details regarding upcoming science activities.
March 3 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 2 (Completed)
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