The Planetary Society Weblog
By Emily Lakdawalla
Timeline of tomorrow's Venus Orbit Insertion events
Apr. 10, 2006 | 09:51 PDT | 16:51 UTC
I posted this timeline as a news story last week, but I got a couple more pieces of information today that I inserted into it. This is the timeline we'll all be watching very closely tomorrow, to see if everything unfolds as planned. Only 13 hours until the first event on the timeline!
Space-
craft
Time
(UTC) | Earth Received Time | Event |
|---|
| PDT | UTC | CEST |
|---|
| 05:56 | Apr 10
23:03 | 06:03 | 08:03 | Slew maneuver
Over half an hour, Venus Express will rotate so that its main engine faces its direction of motion. The new orientation willl allow Venus Express to slow into orbit -- but will rotate the high-gain (X-band) antennas out of line with Earth. As a result, all communications with Earth throughout the orbit insertion period must take place over the low-gain (S-band) antenna. | | 07:10 | 00:17 | 07:17 | 09:17 | Main engine burn begins
The burn of the main engine will last 51 minutes and produce a velocity change of more than 1.2 kilometers per second (4,000 feet per second). | | 07:38 | 00:45 | 07:45 | 09:45 | Occultation begins
Venus Express' path will take it behind Venus as seen from Earth. As a result, the controllers on Earth will lose radio contact for 10 minutes as the engine continues to burn. | | 07:48 | 00:55 | 07:55 | 09:55 | Occultation ends
Venus Express' main engine should still be firing as the occultation ends. Controllers will be searching intently for the spacecraft's signal once it reappears from behind the planet. If this signal comes from the expected position, it will be the first confirmation that the orbit insertion was successful. | | 08:00 | 01:07 | 08:07 | 10:07 | Main engine burn ends
Venus Express will now be in Venus orbit. | | 09:00 | 02:07 | 09:07 | 11:07 | X-band transmitter on
During the orbit insertion maneuver, Venus Express will employ an omnidirectional S-band antenna. After orbit insertion, the spacecraft will switch to a higher-bit-rate X-band antenna and begin transmitting information about the spacecraft's health. | | 09:06 | 02:13 | 09:13 | 11:13 | Communication with Earth reestablished | | | 02:30 | 09:30 | 11:30 | Press conference
An orbit insertion program and this press conference will be carried live onESA TV. | At the time of Venus orbit insertion, it will take 6 minutes and 46 seconds for signals to travel the 125 million kilometers (78 million miles) from the spacecraft to Earth. Earth received times for the events are given for Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), Universal Time (UTC), and Central European Summer Time (CEST). Visit www.timeanddate.com to convert times to your local time zone. |
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