The Cassini spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997 and arrived at Saturn on June 30, 2004. It has performed detailed observations and remote sensing of Saturn, its rings, and its satellites since that time. In the event safe mode interrupts normal orbital operations, Cassini has flight software fault protection algorithms to detect, isolate, and recover to a thermally safe and commandable attitude and then wait for further instructions from the ground. But the Saturn environment is complex, and safety hazards change depending on where Cassini is in its orbital trajectory around Saturn. Selecting an appropriate safe mode attitude that insures safe operation in the Saturn environment, including keeping the star tracker field of view clear of bright bodies, while maintaining a quiescent, commandable attitude, is a significant challenge. This paper discusses the Cassini safe table management strategy and the key criteria that must be considered, especially during low altitude flybys of Titan, in deciding what spacecraft attitude should be used in the event of safe mode.


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    Title :

    Managing Cassini Safe Mode Attitude at Saturn


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference 2010 ; 2010 ; Toronto, ON, Canada


    Publication date :

    2010-08-02


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





    Managing Cassini Attitude Control During Safe Mode at Saturn

    Burk, T. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2010