24 February 2000
Yesterday's propulsion burn completed successfully and Terra is now in its destined orbit!
The ground tracks are currently within 17 kilometers of the Landsat 7 paths, and no additional
propulsion maneuvers are deemed necessary before April. Though this milestone was reached
later than originally planned, we have been able to make productive use of the intervening
time to check out the MISR instrument and data processing system. A Chinese proverb says
"Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes silk."
This morning, at 8:41 AM PST, during Terra's 995th orbit of the Earth, the command to open
MISR's cover was transmitted. "Real-time" telemetry indicated that the electrical current
readings for the motor were at the expected levels, and the microswitches which signal the
open condition operated normally. The calibration diodes were turned on during this event
and we were able to see their signal rise dramatically as earthlight illuminated the
instrument. A playback of about 10 minutes of "expedited" data from the Terra solid-state
recorder occurred shortly thereafter. We expect these data to arrive at JPL later today.
We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first MISR images of Earth!
You can see earlier status reports by checking the "News" link of the MISR
web site at http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov.
David Diner
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