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Galileo System Design for Orbital Operations

In April 1991, Galileo's X-band high gain antenna failed to deploy. An alternate approach which utilizes the spacecraft's S-band low gain antenna was conceived and is in development. This approach will enable the accomplishment of at least 70 percent of Galileo's original scientific objectives. The short development period dictates that the spacecraft system design, the ground data system design, and the operational system scenarios and procedures necessary to conduct the mission be developed concurrently, and places a premium on validating the system designs as early as possible. This paper presents an overview of the Galileo Mission, briefly describes the changes required to implement the orbital phase of the Galileo Mission, and describes the functional model of the end to end system which was developed to support the systems design effort.

Galileo↗

Galileo Preparing for Jupiter Arrival

The most critical events of the Galileo mission occur on Jupiter arrival day, December 7, 1995. In chronological order, these one-time events are: a 1000 km flyby of the innermost Galilean satellite Io, the 75-minute Atmospheric Entry Probe mission, and the Orbiter's Jupiter Orbit Insertion (JOI) maneuver. In addition, extensive, unique Orbiter science observations are planned because this is the only time Galileo will encounter Io, fly through the Io torus, and will be so close to Jupiter -- three times closer than at any of the perijove passes in the orbital mission. All of these events occur in what will be by far the most intense radiation environment Galileo will ever see. The focus of this paper is the extraordinary preparations being made to maximize the reliability of the most critical events in order to ensure a successful probe mission and Orbiter Insertion while also gathering unique arrival day Orbiter science. The paper also provides a mission status report including the return of the asteroid Ida data and the Galileo direct line-of-sight observations of Comet Shoemaker-Levy fragments impacting Jupiter in July 1994.

Galileo↗

Simulation of the Galileo spacecraft axial - Delta-V algorithm

Preliminary results are presented from the analysis of the Galileo spacecraft axial delta-V algorithm. The Galileo spacecraft is a dual spin interplanetary spacecraft which will study the four Galilean moons of Jupiter as well as the Jovian environment and atmosphere. In order to achieve orbit about Jupiter and accurately deliver the probe to the planet's upper atmosphere, the Galileo spacecraft must be capable of performing many trajectory corrections or delta-V maneuvers. Twelve 10 Newton thrusters and one 400 Newton engine are utilized for this purpose. There are many maneuver modes and control algorithms available to the spacecraft. In this paper only the analysis of the axial delta-V algorithm will be discussed. The analysis consists of two parts: an analytic study and a simulation study. The analytic results are based on rigid body dynamics, while the simulation includes the first order effect of the flexible magnetometer boom and nutation damper. The simulation utilizes a program developed at JPL which allows flexible body effects to be simulated by modeling a collection of rigid bodies attached together by hinges, springs and dampers. In this preliminary study of the Galileo only two rigid bodies were used in the simulation, but many more can and will be used in the final tests. In this analysis, the algorithm appears to be working correctly and the analytic and simulation results agree very well.

Longuski, J. M.↗

Analysis of flow decay potential on Galileo

The risks posed to the NASA's Galileo spacecraft by the oxidizer flow decay during its extended mission to Jupiter is discussed. The Galileo spacecraft will use nitrogen tetroxide (NTO)/monomethyl hydrazine bipropellant system with one large engine thrust-rated at a nominal 400 N, and 12 smaller engines each thrust-rated at a nominal 10 N. These smaller thrusters, because of their small valve inlet filters and small injector ports, are especially vulnerable to clogging by iron nitrate precipitates formed by NTO-wetted stainless steel components. To quantify the corrosion rates and solubility levels which will be seen during the Galileo mission, corrosion and solubility testing experiments were performed with simulated Galileo materials, propellants, and environments. The results show the potential benefits of propellant sieving in terms of iron and water impurity reduction.

Cole, T. W.↗

Interference prediction for deep space spacecraft from ground stations - Interference to the Galileo deep space spacecraft from the GOMS geostationary network

A technique for predicting the interference power spectral density from a ground station to a spacecraft in deep space is described. The interference prediction throughout the complete mission is simulated, and distance between the ground station and the deep space spacecraft is calculated. A power spectral density from the GOMS satellite network to the Galileo spacecraft receiver is computed using the thermal noise density level at the Galileo spacecraft as the interference criterion. Data obtained indicate that all three GOMS stations cause at least 30 minutes of interference during Galileo earth flyby number one, and two GOMS ground stations cause at least four minutes of interference during Galileo earth flyby number.

Bishop, Dennis F.↗

Galileo trajectory design

The trajectory design of the Galileo spacecraft is examined. The Galileo spacecraft was launched on a six-year long trip to Jupiter in October 1989. A new Venus-Earth-Earth-Gravity Assist (VEEGA) trajectory mode is being used for the transfer to Jupiter and involves two phasing orbits around the sun and gravity-assist flybys with Venus. The aggregate delta V acquired from these flybys is 18.3 km/s. The interplanetary trajectory includes a close flyby of asteroid 951-Gaspra in October 1991 and a possible flyby of 243-Ida in August 1993. After arrival at Jupiter in December 1995, the previously released Galileo atmospheric probe will relay data to earth via the Galileo Orbiter. The orbital phase of the mission will involve 10 orbits of Jupiter over a 22 month period. In this phase the Orbiter will use repeated gravity-assisted flybys of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto during which Jupiter, its magnetosphere and the Galilean satellites will be investigated. The mission is scheduled to end in October 1997.

D'Amario, Louis A.↗

The Galileo and Pioneer Venus ultraviolet spectrometer experiments - Solar Lyman-alpha latitude variation at solar maximum from interplanetary Lyman-alpha observations

Solar Ly-alpha latitude variation at solar maximum is examined on the basis of interplanetary Ly-alpha observations made during the Galileo and Pioneer Venus UV spectrometer experiments. A comparison is made of the latitude variation of the interplanetary (IP) Ly-alpha signal in 1986 at solar minimum from Pioneer Venus and in 1990 at solar maximum from Galileo. The Galileo EUV spectrometer shows that a large enhancement of the IP Ly-alpha emission occurred over the intervening four years near the solar equator. An IP Ly-alpha model is developed which considers the latitude variation of the solar Ly-alpha flux. The model fit to the data shows a 25-percent decrease of the full disk solar Ly-alpha flux from solar equator to solar pole in 1990. A detailed study of the Galileo IP Ly-alpha observations on day-of-year 190, 193, 197, and 200 in 1990 reveals that large variations occur in response to the 27-d solar variation. Analysis of these data shows that a maximum variation of 20 percent can be expected in the IP Ly-alpha upwind intensity over this 27-d period.

Pryor, W. R.↗

Galileo completing VEEGA - A mid-term report

In December Galileo will complete its Venus-Earth-Earth-Gravity Assist (VEEGA) mission phase and will be placed on a direct trajectory to Jupiter arriving in December 1995. Galileo will be the first aircraft to orbit Jupiter and send a probe into its atmosphere and will perform an intensive and comprehensive investigation of the planet. Observations made during the October 1991 encounter with the asteroid Gaspra are discussed. The observation plan to be used for earth and moon observations during the December 1992 gravity assist encounter is described. The Galileo High-Gain Antenna (HGA) deployment anomaly status is reported and future corrective actions are outlined. The low-gain antenna contingency mission to be implemented if the HGA cannot be deployed is described and overall performance and status of the space craft are discussed. The selected tour for the Galileo Jupiter satellite-gravity-assist orbital tour is described and the decision rationale for performing the August 1993 asteroid Ida flyby option is presented.

O'Neil, William J.↗

The effects of correlated noise in intra-complex DSN arrays for S-band Galileo telemetry reception

A number of the proposals for supporting a Galileo S-band (2.3-GHz) mission involve arraying several antennas to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (and bit rate) obtainable from a given set of antennas. Arraying is no longer a new idea, having been used successfully during the Voyager encounters with Uranus and Neptune. However, arraying for Galileo's tour of Jupiter is complicated by Jupiter's strong radio emission, which produces correlated noise effects. This article discusses the general problem of correlated noise due to a planet, or other radio source, and applies the results to the specific case of an array of antennas at the DSN's Tidbinbilla, Australia, complex (DSS 42, DSS 43, DSS 45, and the yet-to-be-built DSS 34). The effects of correlated noise are highly dependent on the specific geometry of the array and on the spacecraft-planet configuration; in some cases, correlated noise effects produce an enhancement, rather than a degradation, of the signal-to-noise ratio. For the case considered here--an array of the DSN's Australian antennas observing Galileo and Jupiter--there are three regimes of interest. If the spacecraft-planet separation is approximately less than 75 arcsec, the average effect of correlated noise is a loss of signal to noise (approximately 0.2 dB as the spacecraft-planet separation approaches zero). For spacecraft-planet separations approximately greater than 75 arcsec, but approximately less than 400 arcsec, the effects of correlated noise cause signal-to-noise variations as large as several tenths of a decibel over time scales of hours or changes in spacecraft-planet separation of tens of arcseconds; however, on average its effects are small (less than 0.01 dB). When the spacecraft is more than 400 arcsec from Jupiter (as is the case for about half of Galileo's tour), correlated noise is a less than 0.05-dB effect.

Dewey, R. J.↗

Application of high-precision two-way ranging to Galileo Earth-1 encounter navigation

The application of precision two-way ranging to orbit determination with relatively short data arcs is investigated for the Galileo spacecraft's approach to its first Earth encounter (December 8, 1990). Analysis of previous S-band (2.3-GHz) ranging data acquired from Galileo indicated that under good signal conditions submeter precision and 10-m ranging accuracy were achieved. It is shown that ranging data of sufficient accuracy, when acquired from multiple stations, can sense the geocentric angular position of a distant spacecraft. A range data filtering technique, in which explicit modeling of range measurement bias parameters for each station pass is utilized, is shown to largely remove the systematic ground system calibration errors and transmission media effects from the Galileo range measurements, which would otherwise corrupt the angle-finding capabilities of the data. The accuracy of the Galileo orbit solutions obtained with S-band Doppler and precision ranging were found to be consistent with simple theoretical calculations, which predicted that angular accuracies of 0.26-0.34 microrad were achievable. In addition, the navigation accuracy achieved with precision ranging was marginally better than that obtained using delta-differenced one-way range (delta DOR), the principal data type that was previously used to obtain spacecraft angular position measurements operationally.

Pollmeier, V. M.↗

GOPEX - A deep-space optical communications demonstration with the Galileo spacecraft

The Galileo Optical communications from an Earth-based Xmtr (GOPEX) demonstration is designed to exhibit deep-space optical communications using the Galileo spacecraft. The optical transmitter consists of a Nd:YAG laser coupled to a 24-in. telescope at the Table Mountain Observatory (TMO), and the receiver is the Solid-State Imaging camera on board Galileo. The objectives of the demonstration are to understand the issues involved in blind-pointing to a spacecraft in deep space, and to assess the quality of the optical uplink by comparing the experimental results with theoretical predictions. The demonstration is proposed for December 1992 during the second earth-flyby period of Galileo's trajectory.

Wilson, Keith E.↗

Phasing the Very Large Array on Galileo in the presence of Jupiter's strong radio emission

Work is in progress to determine the feasibility of using the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope to receive telemetry from Galileo during its close encounter with Io on 7 Dec. 1995. The VLA was used previously to receive telemetry from Voyager 2 at Neptune. However, Jupiter's strong radio emission is an additional complication in the case of the Galileo encounter. This article analyzes the effect of Jupiter's radio emission on the phase-adjustment procedure ('autophasing') used to maintain coherence among the 27 VLA antennas. Results of an experiment designed to mimic the Io encounter are presented. As expected, Jupiter's strong radio emission has a considerable effect on the autophasing procedure. A simple emission model is found to give a good approximation to the fringe-visibility plots derived from the VLA data, and that successful model is used to estimate the VLA's ability to autophase on Galileo during the Io encounter. The effect of Jupiter should be small for projected baselines longer than approximately 800 m and completely negligible for projected baselines longer than approximately 1.1 km. The most extended configuration of the VLA (the A configuration) probably can be used successfully for telemetry reception during the Io encounter. Further analysis and testing of the effect of correlated noise from Jupiter is necessary before a final decision can be made about the feasibility of using the second largest (B) configuration of the VLA for reception of Galileo telemetry. Use of the B configuration could simplify the upgrades needed to support the Io encounter. Tests to help choose the preferred VLA configuration could be performed by using the VLA to observe the Magellan spacecraft at Venus during Jul. and Oct. 1991. Examination of the effects of planet noise on the VLA have implications beyond the use of that telescope for supporting the Io encounter. The effects of planet radio emission on spacecraft data received by antenna arrays are relevant to choosing the exact locations of antennas that might be built by the Deep Space Network in coming years.

Ulvestad, J. S.↗

Galileo mission planning for Low Gain Antenna based operations

The Galileo mission operations concept is undergoing substantial redesign, necessitated by the deployment failure of the High Gain Antenna, while the spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter. The new design applies state-of-the-art technology and processes to increase the telemetry rate available through the Low Gain Antenna and to increase the information density of the telemetry. This paper describes the mission planning process being developed as part of this redesign. Principal topics include a brief description of the new mission concept and anticipated science return (these have been covered more extensively in earlier papers), identification of key drivers on the mission planning process, a description of the process and its implementation schedule, a discussion of the application of automated mission planning tool to the process, and a status report on mission planning work to date. Galileo enhancements include extensive reprogramming of on-board computers and substantial hard ware and software upgrades for the Deep Space Network (DSN). The principal mode of operation will be onboard recording of science data followed by extended playback periods. A variety of techniques will be used to compress and edit the data both before recording and during playback. A highly-compressed real-time science data stream will also be important. The telemetry rate will be increased using advanced coding techniques and advanced receivers. Galileo mission planning for orbital operations now involves partitioning of several scarce resources. Particularly difficult are division of the telemetry among the many users (eleven instruments, radio science, engineering monitoring, and navigation) and allocation of space on the tape recorder at each of the ten satellite encounters. The planning process is complicated by uncertainty in forecast performance of the DSN modifications and the non-deterministic nature of the new data compression schemes. Key mission planning steps include quantifying resource or capabilities to be allocated, prioritizing science observations and estimating resource needs for each, working inter-and intra-orbit trades of these resources among the Project elements, and planning real-time science activity. The first major mission planning activity, a high level, orbit-by-orbit allocation of resources among science objectives, has already been completed; and results are illustrated in the paper. To make efficient use of limited resources, Galileo mission planning will rely on automated mission planning tools capable of dealing with interactions among time-varying downlink capability, real-time science and engineering data transmission, and playback of recorded data. A new generic mission planning tool is being adapted for this purpose.

Gershman, R.↗

Galileo: Challenges enroute to Jupiter

The Galileo spacecraft is now on its three-year direct Earth-to-Jupiter transfer trajectory. Jupiter arrived (Probe entry) is scheduled for 2:05 pm PST, December 7, 1995. The Galileo Probe will be the first human-made object to enter the atmosphere of an outer planet, while the Orbiter will be the first artificial satellite of an outer planet. A two-year Jupiter orbital mission is planned. Following launch on October 18, 1989, Galileo spent just over three years executing its Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (VEEGA) mission phase to achieve the heliocentric energy necessary to reach Jupiter. Midway through its Earth-to-Earth leg, on October 29, 1991, Galileo became the first spacecraft to encounter an asteroid. Six months earlier in April 1991, the spacecraft's high-gain antenna (HGA) failed to deploy properly. The special guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) problems associated with a 20-month campaign of maneuvers to free the stuck antenna and successfully perform the asteroid encounter without it are described. The overall mission and spacecraft status are also reported.

O'Neil, William J.↗

Prediction of Particle Number Density and Particle Properties in the Flow Field Observed by the Nephelometer Experiment on the Galileo Probe

This report summarizes the work performed to assist in the analysis of data returned from the Galileo Probe's Nephelometer instrument. A computation of the flow field around the Galileo Probe during its descent through the Jovian atmosphere was simulated. The behavior of cloud particles that passed around the Galileo probe was then computed and the number density in the vicinity of the Nephelometer instrument was predicted. The results of our analysis support the finding that the number density of cloud particles was not the same in each of the four sampling volumes of the Nephelometer instrument. The number densities calculated in this study are currently being used to assist in the reanalysis of the data returned from the Galileo Probe.

Naughton, Jonathan W.↗

Prediction of Particle Number Density and Particle Properties in the Flow Field Observed by the Nephelometer Experiment on the Galileo Probe

This report summarizes the work performed to assist in the analysis of data returned from the Galileo Probe's Nephelometer instrument. A computation of the flow field around the Galileo Probe during its descent through the Jovian atmosphere was simulated. The behavior of cloud particles that passed around the Galileo probe was then computed and the number density in the vicinity of the Nephelometer instrument was predicted. The results of our analysis support the finding that the number density of cloud particles was not the same in each of the four sampling volumes of the Nephelometer instrument. The number densities calculated in this study are currently being used to assist in the reanalysis of the data returned from the Galileo Probe.

Naughton, Jonathan W.↗

Galileo Outreach Compilation

This NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) video production is a compilation of the best short movies and computer simulation/animations of the Galileo spacecraft's journey to Jupiter. A limited number of actual shots are presented of Jupiter and its natural satellites. Most of the video is comprised of computer animations of the spacecraft's trajectory, encounters with the Galilean satellites Io, Europa and Ganymede, as well as their atmospheric and surface structures. Computer animations of plasma wave observations of Ganymede's magnetosphere, a surface gravity map of Io, the Galileo/Io flyby, the Galileo space probe orbit insertion around Jupiter, and actual shots of Jupiter's Great Red Spot are presented. Panoramic views of our Earth (from orbit) and moon (from orbit) as seen from Galileo as well as actual footage of the Space Shuttle/Galileo liftoff and Galileo's space probe separation are also included.

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Galileo Space Probe News Conference

This NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) video release presents Part 1 of a press conference regarding the successful entry of the Galileo Space Probe into Jupiter's atmosphere. The press conference panel is comprised of twelve principal investigators and project scientists that oversee the Galileo mission. Among these panelists, William J. O'Neil (Jet Propulsion Lab.) begins the video praising all of the scientists that worked on the orbiter mission. He then presents a visual overview of Galileo's overall mission trajectory and schedule. Marcie Smith (NASA Ames Research Center) then describes the Galileo Probe mission and the overall engineering and data acquisition aspects of the Probe's Jupiter atmospheric entry. Dr. Richard Young (NASA Ames Research Center) follows with a brief scientific overview, describing the measurements of the atmospheric composition as well as the instruments that were used to gather the data. Atmospheric pressure, temperature, density, and radiation levels of Jupiter were among the most important parameters measured. It is explained that these measurements would be helpful in determining among other things, the overall dynamic meteorology of Jupiter. A question and answer period follows the individual presentations. Atmospheric thermal structure, water abundances, wind profiles, radiation, cloud structure, chemical composition, and electricity are among the topics discussed. Parts 2 and 3 of the press conference can be found in document numbers NONP-NASA-VT-2000001074, and NONP-NASA-VT-2000001075.

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