K3PGP Experimenter's Corner
Lunar Prospector Status Report #23
March 6, 1998 - 7:00 p.m. EST (4:00 p.m. PST)
The Lunar Prospector spacecraft continues to perform very well, and all instruments continue to collect good data, according to Mission Control at NASA's Ames Research Center. This past week, mission controllers executed no commands to the spacecraft. The current state of the vehicle (as of 4:00 p.m. (PST) on Thurs., March 5, 1998), according to Mission Operations Manager Marcie Smith, is as follows:
| Spacecraft Orbit Number: | 650 | ||
| Data Downlink Rate: | 3600 bps | ||
| Spacecraft Spin Rate: | 11.94 rpm | ||
| Spin Axis Attitude: | Longitude: 344 deg Latitude: 88.8 deg |
||
| Trajectory: | Periselene: 82 km | Aposelene: | 117 km |
| Period: | 118 minutes duration | ||
| Inclination: | 90.0 deg | ||
| Occultations: | none | ||
| Eclipses: | 45 minutes duration |
Late last week, mission controllers exeperienced a 15-hour
period in which they could not track the vehicle. Since then,
tracking allocations have been much better, and only a few short
outages are anticipated.
Ames mission controllers plan to execute the first orbit trim
maneuver over the weekend. At that time, two axial burns are
scheduled: one to raise orbital periselene (closest distance from
the Moon) and one to lower orbital aposelene (furthest distance
from the Moon). Although the targeted orbit following this
maneuver will not be exactly 100 km circular, the new orbit (87
km by 113 km) is designed to be better able to compensate for
periodic perturbations, thus maintaining the desired 100 (+ or -)
20 km orbit for a longer time.
Alison Davis
Lunar Prospector Mission Office
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, Calif. 94035
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