After NASA's Kepler mission vaulted into the heavens on a column of thunder Friday March 6, it quickly sent its first communications to Earth via NASA's Deep Space Network station in the Mohave desert of California, called Goldstone. The spacecraft flew past the orbit of the moon Sunday night, and continues to trail behind Earth as it orbits the sun.
Flight controllers are busy proceeding through the methodical process of powering on and checking out Kepler's various systems. So far, the star cameras used to determine the orientation of the spacecraft, and the sun sensors used to determine the direction of the sun, have been checked out. In addition, the spacecraft's X-band radio communication link has been tested with the remaining two Deep Space Network stations, one near Madrid, Spain, and the other near Canberra, Australia. All systems are performing as expected and the commissioning process is proceeding smoothly.
Flight controllers are busy proceeding through the methodical process of powering on and checking out Kepler's various systems. So far, the star cameras used to determine the orientation of the spacecraft, and the sun sensors used to determine the direction of the sun, have been checked out. In addition, the spacecraft's X-band radio communication link has been tested with the remaining two Deep Space Network stations, one near Madrid, Spain, and the other near Canberra, Australia. All systems are performing as expected and the commissioning process is proceeding smoothly.
Do you like this article? Share It!
0 comments to "Kepler Mission Manager Report"
RSS Feeds
Send me hate/love letters
(Click This Gift Box To Get Your Site/Blog Listed Here)
My Friend's Blogroll
Horror Of The Day
My Friend's Blogroll
Magic Show
Stylish Walk
My Friend's Blogroll
Non-Believers Giving Aid
My Friend's Blogroll
The Out Campaign
My Friend's Blogroll
Dancing Tweety
NASA International Space Station
NASA Solar System
NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA Voyager 2 Launch
NASA Flight Over Venus
NASA's Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared
NASA Hubble Telescope
NASA Mars Exploration Rover
NASA Shooting For The Moon
NASA STS-132 Lifts Off
NASA Expedition 21 Lifts Off
NASA The Birth Of Stars
NASA Ring Of Fire
NASA Expedition 22 Crew Lands
NASA Huygens on Titan
NASA Expedition 23 Soyuz Rollout
NASA Launch Pad 39A
NASA Mission to Jupiter
NASA WISE
NASA Glint in the Cat's Eye
NASA Saturn's Auroras
NASA Phoenix Twilight
NASA Phoenix
NASA Cosmic Pearls
NASA Gemini 5 Launch
NASA Mercury Space Capsule
NASA Cassini Spacecraft
NASA Space Shuttle
NASA Europa Explorer
NASA The First Docking in Space
