[meteorite-list] Juno Goes Into Safe Mode During Earth Flyby

From: Jodie Reynolds <spacerocks_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2013 18:24:56 -0700
Message-ID: <1868303230.20131009182456_at_spaceballoon.org>

Hello Ron,

Maybe it was all of us RFing the poo out of her radios at 200-1500 watts
over on 10meters [as requested]? :)

I was monitoring the entire 1Mhz spectrum width from another location
as I was hitting her, and I counted at least six, sometimes eight,
other stations mashing the key at the same time I was, and that's
just what was in view of my remote receiver down in the valley hole!

--- Jodie

Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 4:47:23 PM, you wrote:



> http://spaceflightnow.com/juno/131009safemode/

> Juno goes into safe mode during Earth flyby
> BY STEPHEN CLARK
> SPACEFLIGHT NOW
> October 9, 2013

> NASA's Juno spacecraft went into safe mode Wednesday as it flew by Earth
> to gain speed on its five-year journey to Jupiter, but the mission's lead
> scientist said the flyby achieved its objective of putting the probe on
> the correct course toward the solar system's largest planet.

> The Jupiter-bound probe flew about 350 miles over the Indian Ocean near
> South Africa at 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT), and all data indicate the spacecraft
> obtained the predicted gravity boost from the flyby, according to Scott
> Bolton, Juno's principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute
> in San Antonio.

> But the spacecraft, stretching the size of a basketball court with its
> solar panels extended, experienced a fault some time during the flyby,
> going into a safe mode to protect the probe's systems and instruments
> while engineers on the ground scramble to diagnose the problem.

> Bolton said Juno is designed to downlink data at a slower rate than normal
> during a safe mode, but telemetry from the spacecraft shows all its systems
> and instruments are fine.

> The solar-powered spacecraft zoomed over the Indian Ocean on the night
> side of the Earth, putting the probe's expansive solar arrays in eclipse
> for the first time since its launch in August 2011.

> Juno also passed out of range of ground antennas around the time of closest
> approach, and a European Space Agency ground station in Perth, Australia,
> acquired the first radio signals from Juno a few minutes later.

> "When we came out of the eclipse, we realized that the spacecraft was
> in safe mode," Bolton said. "What we do know is that all the subsystems
> and instruments are nominal and behaving OK."

> Juno was programmed to collect data during the flyby with its science
> payload. The research activities - considered a bonus by the Juno science
> team - included gathering observations of the Earth's magnetic field and
> auroras and snapping a series of images of Earth with the spacecraft's
> primary camera.

> "This did not affect the main purpose of the flyby, which was to put Juno
> on the right course to Jupiter," Bolton said.

> Bolton said ground controllers see some indications Juno gathered data
> and images during the flyby, but it may take more time to confirm whether
> the craft took the images as planned. If the imagery was collected, it
> could take extra time recover the information from the probe's on-board
> computer while engineers focus their work on putting Juno back into its
> normal operating mode.

> Juno is set to arrive in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016, beginning
> a one-year science mission studying the gas giant's crushing atmosphere,
> powerful magnetic field and enigmatic core. Juno's discoveries could help
> scientists unravel how Jupiter, likely the solar system's oldest planet,
> formed and evolved in the early solar system.

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-- 
Best regards,
 Jodie                            mailto:spacerocks at spaceballoon.org

Received on Wed 09 Oct 2013 09:24:56 PM PDT