Cassini Significant Event Report
For Week Ending 12/01/00

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Madrid tracking station on Wednesday, November 29. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. The speed of the spacecraft can be viewed on the "Where is Cassini Now?" web page.

Activities this week included the completion of the third and start of the fourth of four instances of the Phase B 5-Day repeating template for Jupiter observations. Template activities include the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) 2x2 movie, Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) North / South Scans, ISS 1x4 Satellite Search, Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) orientation to place -X axis to sun and rotate, and Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) calibration. Additional activities include reaction wheel momentum unloads, Radio Science (RS) Ultra Stable Oscillator (USO) calibration, uplink and execution of the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) turn ON mini-sequence, CIRS Instrument Expanded Block load for C23 Phases C, D and E, and a Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) threshold adjustment

Instrument Operations (IO) and the Multi-Mission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) delivered 3825 ISS images and 33 Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) cubes last week making a total of 9030 Jupiter images and 53 cubes delivered through 11/29.

IO issued a report this week on the results of the in-flight test of the new VIMS Flight Software. Upgrades to the software were introduced to support Jupiter activities and are working as expected.

IO-RS conducted a USO characterization. Ka- and X-band open and closed-loop data were obtained for four hours over DSS-25 at Goldstone, California. The new Radio Science Receiver was also used to acquire open-loop data. Data analysis is on-going.

An Atmosphere Working Group (AWG) telecon was held to begin the discussion of Saturn atmospheric science observations in the tour. This meeting went well with each Instrument Team interested in Saturn science discussing their plans for acquiring Saturn atmosphere science throughout the tour. A follow-up telecon has been scheduled for January.

Mission Support & Services Office (MSSO) personnel participated in a cross-office meeting to coordinate the installation of Multi-Mission Spacecraft Analysis Subsystem (MSAS) V5.2 software for the Spacecraft Office (SCO). The software is to be installed on four workstations to test performance and use. Testing of the HP V25.2 is now complete. This software is to be installed on Navigation workstations.

Cassini/Multi-Mission Ground Data System (CAS/MMGDS) training will begin in early December for new SCO, IO, Uplink Operations (ULO), and Science Planning (SP) personnel.

A presentation on Cassini, with special attention on Jupiter results, was well-received last week at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego. University of California San Diego TV recorded the session for future broadcast.

Additional information about Cassini-Huygens is online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Cassini will begin orbiting Saturn on July 1, 2004, and release its piggybacked Huygens probe about six months later for descent through the thick atmosphere of the moon Titan. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

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