K3PGP Experimenter's Corner
Lunar Prospector Status Report #19
Februrary 9, 1998 - 7:00 p.m. EST (4:00 p.m. PST)
This past week, no anomalies surfaced with regard to the spacecraft or its instruments, and no commanding activities were performed. During the afternoon (PST), Feb. 9, 1998, Mission Control executed a small re-orientiation maneuver. According to mission controllers at Ames, thermal constraints made this maneuver necessary to re-position the orientation of the spacecraft's spin axis so that the Sun angle is pointing slightly toward the top of the vehicle.
The Lunar Prospector spacecraft continues to perform very well according to Mission Control at NASA's Ames Research Center. The current state of the vehicle (as of 4:00 p.m. (PST) on Mon., Feb. 9, 1998), according to Mission Operations Manager Marcie Smith, is as follows:
| Orbit Number: | 345 | ||
| Data Downlink Rate: | 3600 bps | ||
| Spacecraft Spin Rate: | 11.94 rpm | ||
| Spin Axis Attitude: | Longitude: 242 deg Latitude: 88.4 deg |
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| Trajectory: | Periselene: | 92 km Aposelene: |
109 km |
| Period: | 118 minutes duration | ||
| Occultations: | 46 minutes duration | ||
| Inclination: | none | ||
| Eclipses: | 39 minutes duration |
Alison Davis
Lunar Prospector Mission Office
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, Calif. 94035
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