Monday, February 22, 2010

AMF 2B Raises Perigee by 1500 km

Orbit circularization maneuver AMF #2B, using the ACS thrusters, was accomplished successfully tonight. The burn was 50 minutes long (as designed), and all hardware and software performed as expected. There is now quite a bit more data for the continuing fuel slosh analysis, and the perigee has been increased by approximately 1500 km.

The data collected on this burn will be used to refine our understanding of the fuel slosh dynamics with the goal of returning to main engine burns as soon as we can. But until such an understanding is reached, we will continue with orbit circularization maneuvers using the ACS thrusters.