http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-014
"This is only the second time in Cassini's 11 years of flight that the engineering teams have gone to a backup system."
Full Version: Cassini to swap to backup thrusters
Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Outer Solar System > Saturn > Cassini Huygens > Cassini general discussion and science results
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-014
"This is only the second time in Cassini's 11 years of flight that the engineering teams have gone to a backup system."
Have to stretch that fuel out for another decade!
Good news from Pasadena - the thruster swap was successfully carried out late on Wednesday.
One assumes if these ones break they can swap back ?
Yes, but the performance degradation was a real issue, so one hopes the backup system lasts as long as the prime one was used.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.