NASA Kepler Mission Manager Update 29 May 2009 | SpaceRef

NASA Kepler Mission Manager Update 29 May 2009

STATUS REPORT
Date Released: Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Source: Ames Research Center

Kepler remains safe and stable in its "drift-away" heliocentric orbit. The spacecraft is over 8.4 million kilometers from Earth. Kepler has been collecting science data since 12 May. The operations team has had nearly daily contacts using the Deep Space Network to check the spacecraft health. Science data collection is, by design, a very quiet period as the scientists want the spacecraft as stable as possible. Other than the continual collection of science data with Kepler's photometer, the only activities that occur on the spacecraft, on a regular basis, are reaction wheel desaturations. These desaturations occur about every 3 days.

The orientation of the spacecraft (keeping the telescope pointed at the science field of view) is controlled by reaction wheels which slowly spin up to counter pressure from solar wind. Before any given wheels spin too fast, thrusters are fired to negate the momentum imparted to the spacecraft from the spin-up of the reaction wheels. The reaction wheel speeds are returned to near-zero, and the cycle begins again. We have loaded a command sequence on-board the spacecraft to execute these desaturations.

Meanwhile, scientists at NASA Ames Research Center are continuing their analysis of the instrument calibration data taken during Kepler's commissioning phase. The data are of very high quality and the scientists are very pleased with the precision of the data. Hundreds of eclipsing binaries and variable stars were seen in this data.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Mercury - Venus - The Moon - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Pluto

RADWIN empowers service providers so they can deliver high speed Wireless broadband Access services.

Find hose reels and watering systems

Quality leather chairs in a variety of styles.

News from Commercial Space Watch

- Recovery Act: Water Management in California: Cyber Infrastructure for Irrigation Optimization

- Former Shuttle Astronaut-Astronomer, Sam Durrance, Joins the CSF Suborbital Researchers Group

- Satellite-Based Earth Observation Market Entering Phase of Impressive Growth

- NASA and Lighting Science Sign Agreement to Develop Lighting for Space Exploration

- Sky No Longer the Limit for Digital Magazines

- NASA Develops Algae Bioreactor as a Sustainable Energy Source

- Aerojet Engines Support Space Shuttle Atlantis' Re-stocking Mission to International Space Station

- Suborbital Applications Researchers Group Meets in Washington

- NewSpace Is Under Attack

- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Successfully Tests Thruster for Unmanned Lunar Lander

- bacus Technology Corporation Awarded NASA Kennedy Space Center Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year - 2009

- NASA ARC Memo; Procurement Sensitivity of the Competition of Aeronautics and Exploration Mission Modeling and Simulation Request for Proposal NNA09274979R

- Lockheed Martin Tests Carbon Nanotube-Based Memory Devices on NASA Shuttle Mission

- Leonid Meteor Shower to Perform Late Tonight

- Sri Lanka signs agreement with SSTL for space capability

- Decorate your home with nautical decor

- Dieses Portal stellt Ihnen die besten online Casino Bonus und Pokerr�ume im Internet vor.

- Play free bingo games and black out bingo.

- 220Marketing specializes in providing mortgage marketing for mortgage companies and managers.

- Take your time to tour our site and check out all the fun games we operate. In addition to the 20 online bingo rooms we operate, we also have online keno.

- TV Stands