ISO Cluster-II Huygens
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programmes & operations ISO cosmos, detections of young stars in Amplifier - have been successfully the Orion region of the sky and completed. The changes to the ISO’s supply of liquid helium ran out on measurements of infrared galaxies at experiment-carrying rigid booms needed 8 April, thus bringing to an end the highly immense distances (see ‘In Brief’ article in to fit inside the Soyuz launch vehicle’s successful routine operations phase of the this issue of the Bulletin). fairing have been agreed. world’s first true orbiting infrared observatory. This phase lasted nearly one The analysis and interpretation of the ISO The contract with Starsem, which is year longer than specified. Activities now results is only just beginning. All ISO data assessing all mission-analysis aspects of turn to a 1-month period of calibrations will be re-processed with the latest the Soyuz launch, will be completed by and technology tests prior to de- software over the summer and an archive mid-1998, before the main Launch commissioning of the satellite in mid-May. will be opened to the astronomical Services Agreement is signed. During the following 3.5 years, community in the autumn. Thereafter, astronomers all over the globe will there will be an international effort, co- collaborate to re-analyse and re-calibrate ordinated by the ESA ISO Data Centre at all of ISO’s 26000 individual observations Villafranca in Spain, to maximise the Huygens to extract the maximum scientific return exploitation of the ISO data and to from this unique mission and to leave prepare the best possible final archive to The Cassini/Huygens spacecraft is on its behind a legacy archive to serve the leave as a legacy from ISO to future way to Venus with its High-Gain-Antenna community for the next decades. astronomers. Many more discoveries still (HGA) pointing at the Sun, and everything await us! is nominal on-board. The first Venus flyby At 07:00 (Spanish time) on 8 April 1998, will occur on 26 April. The spacecraft is the spacecraft control team at ESA’s flown in a HGA-to-Sun attitude in order to ground station at Villafranca near Madrid keep the spacecraft, and the Huygens reported that ISO’s telescope was Cluster-II Probe in particular, in shadow. beginning to warm up, above its nominal operating temperature close to absolute The manufacture of all spacecraft and The spacecraft was continuously zero. This was the first sign that ISO had payload equipment is progressing monitored through NASA’s Deep-Space exhausted the superfluid helium used to according to plan, consistent with the Network (DSN) during the post-launch achieve the very low temperatures start of integration of the first new Cluster- one-month commissioning phase. Since necessary for infrared astronomy. At II spacecraft in the third quarter of 1998. 23.07, temperatures in the instruments Ninety percent of all parts for all had risen above 4.2K and the instruction spacecraft have been delivered to the Huygens Probe temperature since launch to switch off was given. At the time, ISO subcontractors. The Preliminary Design was making polarisation observations of Reviews (PDRs) for the new equipment - Courbes température de la sonde Huygens the galaxy NGC1808 with the camera Solid-State Recorder and High-Power depuis son lancement (ISOCAM) for Prof. J. Hough (UK). Some of the main activities during the technology test programme will be testing the operation of the star trackers at low altitudes, i.e. in the radiation belts, use of the on-board redundant units that were not needed during the routine operations, and evaluation of the software intended to overcome multiple gyro failures. During gaps in this programme, the shortest- wavelength detectors in the Short Wavelength Spectrometer will be used to measure the 2.38 - 4.08 micron spectrum of many stars to extend their spectral classification to the infrared. After completion of these tests, the perigee will be lowered as much as possible and the satellite switched off. Re-entry is foreseen for around the year 2020. Just prior to exhaustion of the liquid helium, some of ISO’s latest results were announced to the Press at a briefing in London. Among these discoveries were the finding of water vapour on Saturn’s moon Titan, complementing ISO’s many detections of water throughout the programmes & operations then, the engineering data have been readiness of the project to proceed with within the spacecraft’s integration schedule stored on the Orbiter’s Solid-State flight-satellite integration was confirmed. without impacting on its delivery date. Recorder (SSR) and dumped once or twice per week when a suitable DSN pass In line with the model philosophy for Ground-segment development work has is available. Key Probe temperatures are XMM, the last elements of the spacecraft progressed nominally with the detailed measured continuously by the Orbiter and qualification will be part of the proto-flight design phase. Delivery of the first version the data transmitted to Earth during the model test programme. Flight equipment of the control software was foreseen for DSN passes. From the thermal point of is being delivered on time and integration March. view, the Probe’s behaviour is well within of the flight satellite has started with the specification. The thermal model of the mounting of the reaction control system, Probe is being updated for operational harness and thermal hardware on the Integral purposes, taking into account the in-flight service module at BPD (I) as foreseen. At measurements at the Orbiter/Probe the same time, tests are being conducted With all of the mission participants, the interface. at Matra Marconi Space (UK) on the project team is actively coordinating the attitude and orbit control subsystem prior delivery of units and subsystems to The Probe engineering model has been to its final integration into the spacecraft assemble, integrate and test the first full- retrofitted by Industry and was delivered later this year. scale model of the satellite, the structural to ESOC in Darmstadt (D) in February. Its and thermal model (STM). The lower part command and data-management Tests at Centre Spatial de Liège (CSL) of the satellite, the service module (SVM), systems (CDMS) are replicas (both have continued, involving the third flight will be reused from the XMM project. hardware and software, including the mirror module together with the second Good progress on XMM indicates that the interfaces with the experiments) of the flight model of the reflection grating SVM will be available on time for minor flight-model configurations. It will therefore assembly, as well as the associated X-ray refurbishment and insertion into the serve as a testbed during the mission’s baffle. The assembly was later transported satellite assembly flow. The upper part of 7-year cruise phase for validating any to Munich, where calibration tests will be the satellite, made up of the payload modifications to the in-orbit check-out conducted at the Max-Planck X-ray facility module (PLM) structure and payload sequences that may be required, and to (PANTER). instruments, is also progressing well. validate the eventual on-board software The strong but lightweight structure is modifications. The engineering-model In the meantime, final integration activities undergoing its final tests before delivery Probe has been set up next to the have been taking place at Media Lario (I) to the Prime Contractor, Alenia (I). The Huygens Dedicated Control Room in on the spare mirror module, in preparation payload teams are finalising their ESOC. for the acceptance tests at CSL. instrument models. Some delays are expected, but should be absorbed The second in-orbit check-out will be The instrument consortia are adhering to through simplifications of the unit or by executed on 27 March in the blind, as the the new flight-model schedule for the re-arranging the integration flow and test HGA cannot be used for high-data-rate scientific instruments, which had to be re- logic. communication with the Earth. The check- arranged at the end of 1997. The model out data will be recorded on the Orbiter’s philosophy for the Optical Monitor Most of the equipment required to SSRs and played back to Earth over nine experiment has been streamlined to ensure manipulate and transport the satellite DSN passes at a low 948 bit/s. All data compatibility with the launch date. These on the ground has been delivered. will be available for analysis by the modifications are being accommodated Preparations are in progress to have Principal Investigators and Industry on 9 April. XMM The test campaign on the structural and thermal model of the satellite was successfully completed in early March. In parallel, integrated system tests are being run at Dornier (D) on the engineering model. The results of all tests conducted so far were assessed during a qualification review in mid-March and the XMM reflection grating assembly under test at CSL, Liège (B) Le réseau de réflexion de XMM aux essais au CSL à Liège (B) programmes & operations facilities at Alenia in Turin (I) and at EOPP ESTEC in Noordwijk (NL) ready for the tests. Future strategy Following a comprehensive series of Overall, STM preparations are proceeding bilateral meetings with all Delegations, the on schedule and should allow the satellite future strategy, together with a proposal tests to be run as planned in the April to for the Earth Observation Envelope October period. Programme, has been submitted to the Earth-Observation Programme Board (PB- The ground-segment-element groups are EO) for discussion prior to submission of closing off the issues raised at the earlier the Enabling Resolution to the Council.