Dawn on course for Mars gravity assist
Mon Dec 1, 2008 at 14:22 UTC
Dawn needed to thrust with its ion propulsion system for less than 2.5 hours in November. The maneuver on November 20 was designed to adjust the trajectory to put it on course for a gravity assist from Mars on February 17, 2009.
On November 4, the spacecraft successfully executed a procedure to calibrate the power of the solar arrays. The method was identical to that used in a test in September, but this time the arrays were rotated to point 60 degrees away from the Sun instead of 45 degrees. With the arrays not pointed directly at the Sun, their power output was reduced to a level the spacecraft could measure.
| Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory | |
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