[X] My Assistant

[elakdawalla]

Congratulations to the whole MAVEN team for a successful orbit insertion yesterday. Here's a look at what we can expect for the next 7 weeks of the mission:

First week after MAVEN Mars Orbit Insertion (Sep 21-28)

• Sep 22: MAVEN Transition to Transition Phase Configuration; possible IUVS observation
• Sep 22: At 09:12 UTC, Mars Orbiter Mission test-fires its main engine
• Sep 24: Periapsis Lowering Maneuver 1 -- a rocket burn at apoapsis will reduce the spacecraft's orbital energy and drop its periapsis closer to the planet
• Sep 24: At 02:00 UTC, Mars Orbiter Mission arrives
• Sep 26: MAVEN Period Reduction Maneuver 1 -- a rocket burn at periapsis will shrink the size of the orbit, lowering the apoapsis

Second week after MAVEN arrival (Sep 29-Oct 4)

• Oct 2: Period Reduction Maneuver 2

Third week after MAVEN arrival (Oct 5-11)

• Oct 5: Periapsis Lowering Maneuver 2
• Oct 6: Particles and Fields package checkout; Periapse Time Estimation data collection
• Oct 7: Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) pre-deploy checkout 1
• Oct 9: Period Reduction Maneuver 3
• Oct 10: Langmuir Probe and Wves (LPW) deployment
• Oct 11: Articulated Payload Platform and Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA) deployment

Fourth week after MAVEN arrival (Oct 12-18)

• Oct 13: Payload Platform calibration / Remote sensing instrument checkout
• Oct 14: NGIMS checkout 2 / cover deploy
• Oct 16: Comet Siding Spring science begins

Fifth week after MAVEN arrival (Oct 19-25)

• Oct 19: At 18:32 UTC, Siding Spring passes by Mars
• Oct 22: Post Siding Spring spacecraft checkouts
• Oct 23: Periapsis Lowering Maneuver 3
• Oct 24: Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) scans

Sixth week after MAVEN arrival (Oct 26-Nov 1)

• Oct 24: LPW sync and modes
• Oct 28: Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) and Magnetometer (MAG) scans
• Oct 29: Electra Bit Error Rate, Sniff, Switch exercise (Electra is not a science instrument; it is the communications relay for landed Mars missions like Curiosity and Opportunity.)
• Oct 30: Periapsis Lowering Maneuver 4
• Oct 31: Payload Platform calibration / Remote sensing instrument checkout repeat

Seventh week after MAVEN arrival (Nov 2-8)

• Nov 3: LPW ping test
• Nov 4: MAG roll
• Nov 5: NGIMS checkout 3
• Nov 6: Engineering dry run; Electra communications pass with Curiosity
• Nov 7: Orbit trim maneuver 0
• Nov 8: Science start