|
. | . |
|
by Staff Writers Laurel MD (SPX) Apr 14, 2015
The MESSENGER team is pulling out all the stops to give the spacecraft life far beyond its original design. On April 8, mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., successfully conducted a contingency orbit-correction maneuver (OCM-15a), to supplement the April 6 burn (OCM-15) that concluded early when the last drops of hydrazine fuel were expended. Had there been a little more hydrazine, OCM-15 would have raised MESSENGER's periapsis altitude a full 25 kilometers. "The team couldn't be sure precisely how much liquid hydrazine remained onboard, and how much of that was accessible," explained APL's Karl Whittenburg, MESSENGER's Deputy Mission Operations Manager. "Onboard fault-protection software was designed to transition autonomously to use of gaseous helium for propulsion, should hydrazine depletion occur during this maneuver. Although the transition occurred as designed, our post-maneuver analyses indicated a shortfall in the desired trajectory change." "To our knowledge, this is the first-ever use of a pressurant for a planned propulsion of a spacecraft, so we could only theorize how it might perform," Whittenburg continued. "OCM-15 gave us performance data on this technique, and we are now fully confident that future use of gaseous helium will continue to provide MESSENGER with a unique vantage point for studying Mercury." Wednesday's contingency maneuver -- this time designed to use gaseous helium exclusively -- raised the spacecraft's minimum altitude above Mercury from 18.2 kilometers (11.3 miles) to 29.1 kilometers (18.1 miles). During the operation, a velocity change of 1.94 meters per second (4.34 miles per hour) was imparted, releasing the pressurant through the four largest monopropellant thrusters. Implemented when the spacecraft was at nearly the farthest point in its orbit from Mercury, today's maneuver increased the spacecraft's speed relative to Mercury and also increased the spacecraft's orbit period to 8 hours, 20.3 minutes. OCM-15a was planned and executed in a record two days' time and will keep MESSENGER on its aggressive course to make never-before-seen observations of the planet, made possible only during this final "hover campaign." The next maneuver, on April 14, will once again use gaseous helium to give MESSENGER and its science payload a bit more time to reveal more of the mysteries of the innermost planet in our solar system.
Related Links MESSENGER at APL News Flash at Mercury Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |