Mars Express status report...
At 09:30 CET today, the Mars Express orbiter was 200 000 kilometres from Mars and 156 000 000 kilometres from Earth. The orbiter is on its final planned course for Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI).
The spacecraft will hit its intended MOI ‘bull’s eye’ point, 414 kilometres above the Martian surface, to within an accuracy of six kilometres. The retargeting manoeuvre performed by ESOC Mission Control on Saturday, 20 December, was so accurate that the additional 'fine-tuning' manoeuvre scheduled for 23 December was judged to be unnecessary and not performed.
Mission Control is currently placing the spacecraft in its final configuration for MOI. The fuel tanks are being heated and the latch valves checked in preparation for a 34-minute main engine burn, due to place the spacecraft into Martian orbit in the early hours of Christmas morning.
All non-essential equipment is currently being turned off to minimise the possibility of the spacecraft entering ‘safe mode’. This process is due to conclude around 12:00 CET when the spacecraft’s Solid State Mass Memory is switched off. No further commands are due to be sent to Mars Express until after MOI.
Flight Director Michael McKay said, “From this point the tension really starts to grow. We don’t have a lot more to do except watch and wait. The time within which we can do something reduces very rapidly.
“But if anything unexpected does occur then we would be ready to jump in and recover the situation, applying all the professionalism and skill of the ESA and industrial teams gathered here at ESOC Mission Control.”
