Lunar Prospector Status Report #14

January 25, 1998 - 12:00 noon EST (9:00 a.m. PST)

The Lunar Prospector Mission Control Center at NASA's Ames Research Center has announced that, as of 4 p.m. PST (7 p.m. EST) on Fri., Jan. 23, 1998, the spacecraft and its science instruments continue to operate well, and at the expected nominal levels.

The current statistics regarding the spacecraft, its instuments and mission, as reported by Mission Operations Manager Marcie Smith (at 0000 GMT [Zulu] on Saturday, 1/24/98; 4 p.m. PST on 1/23/98), are as follows:

Orbit Number:	137
Data Downlink Rate:	3600 bps
Spacecraft Spin Rate:	12.09 rpm
Spin Axis Attitude:	Longitude: 226 deg Latitude: 88.1 deg
Trajectory:
Periselene:	90 km
Aposelene:	110 km
Period:	118 minutes duration
Occultations:	35 minutes duration
Eclipses:	15 minutes duration

A total of 72 commands were sent to the Lunar Prospector spacecraft on Thursday night and Friday to set the gains for the Magnetometer and Electron Reflectrometer (MAG and ER) science instruments, and to move the downlink to the medium gain antenna from the Omni antenna (used to date). This served to increase the signal level by about 7 dB, improving the data return at the receiving ground stations.

In the way of upcoming events, a small spin axis attitude reorientation maneuver will be executed, during day shift on Monday, Jan. 26, followed by a spin trim.

David Morse
Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035