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Cassini Significant Events
for 03/27/03 - 04/02/03

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Canberra
tracking station on Wednesday, April 2. The Cassini spacecraft is in
an excellent state of health and is operating normally.  Information
on the present position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be
found on the "Present Position" web page located at
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm .

Command and Data Subsystem (CDS) Flight Software (FSW) checkout
activities continued this week.  The new software was successfully
loaded to the on-line (backup) CDS string.  Both strings are now
running version 9 of the flight software. CDS background sequence
part 1, and Mission Sequence Subsystem D8 module programs were
uplinked.  CDS performed a turn-on of Solid State Recorder A, and
executed data formatter and memory tests, and a CDS SSR-B to SSR-A
image copy was performed.

Sequence development continues for C37. A Preliminary Sequence
Integration and Validation Sequence Change Request (SCR) approval
meeting was held this week. Two waivers and four SCRs have been
approved.  It was decided at a simulation requirements meeting to
test five days of this background sequence and TCM-19 in the
Integrated Test Laboratory in system mode.

Science Operations Plan (SOP) integration for tour sequences S15 and
S16 concluded in March.  A final wrap-up meeting will be held next
week. The second official input port for S17/S18 has passed.
Individual teams' Spacecraft Activity Sequence Files were merged and
the resulting files delivered to ACS for end-to-end pointing
validation.  The results of this run were delivered per schedule last
week. 

A discussion was held at the Mission Planning Forum on the science
activities requested for C39 and C40. Because C39 and C40 are the
last two sequences prior to the Approach Science Subphase, it was
important for all teams to verify that required FSW updates,
checkouts, and calibrations had been requested.  A second topic
addressed at the Forum was the level of DSN tracking schedule changes
the tour and V&V can accommodate, and how the Project should be
communicating this to the DSN schedulers.

Uplink Verification and Validation (V&V) has begun with SOP Update
V&V of tour sequence S14. The Navigation team delivered an "updated"
set of ephemeris files, the DSN scheduling team delivered an
"updated" DSN station allocation file, and the Science Planning team
delivered a completed Cassini Information Management System delivery
for the V&V. The new files have been reviewed per process, and the
project is now working on responding to the updated information. A
Science Advisory Panel (SAP) meeting occurred to determine the
science cuts required to accommodate the changes resulting from the
'actual' DSN allocations for this exercise.  A status meeting was
held mid-week to assess how the processes, tools, and procedures have
worked to date. Input was and will continue to be collected from the
teams to quantify the success of the V&V activity.

A delivery coordination meeting was held for Maneuver Automation
Sub-system Version 2 software to review functionality and coordinate
installation.  The first planned use of this software is for
Trajectory Correction Maneuver #19 in May.

Outreach gave a Saturn Tour preview and presented an overview of the
formal and informal education programs for the Cassini Mission at the
annual Technology in Education conference in Ontario, California.

The Kids' section of the Cassini website is undergoing major format
and content revisions. New features and information are coming online
in a new "kid friendly" format. Access the kids' section of the
Cassini website at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/kids/index.cfm

Updated Saturn viewing information through December 2003 is available
on the Saturn Observation Campaign Website at:
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/viewing.cfm

Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency
and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
Calif., manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space
Science, Washington, D.C. 

Cassini Outreach
Cassini Mission to Saturn and Titan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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