[sci.astro] Magellan Update - 11/05/90

baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) (11/06/90)

                         MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                            November 5, 1990
 
     The Magellan spacecraft continues quietly in its Superior Conjunction
phase.  Engineering telemetry at both S and X-band has been maintained and all
systems are nominal.  The three STARCALS (star calibrations) and six DESATS
(desaturations of the reaction wheels) during the weekend were performed
successfully.
 
     No spacecraft command activity is planned for today.  However, the first
Go/No Go meeting to decide on the resumption of mapping is scheduled for 1 PM
PST today.  Barring any unexpected problems, the command sequence to begin
mapping will be sent to the spacecraft tomorrow and will start execution on
Wednesday morning, November 7.
 
     The radar sensor remains in good health and in standby condition.  Four
new full resolution image strips were processed on November 2, but the quality
of portions corresponding to the spacecraft tape recorder track A2 is severely
degraded.
 
     The Image Data Processing Team produced check prints and photo
enlargements of the thirteen full res mosaics, called engineering F-MIDRs.
Digital processing of seven additional F-MIDRs requested by the science team
was also completed.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |