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1993-05-03
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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
Contact: James H. Wilson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 8, 1991
NASA's Galileo spacecraft received computer sequence
commands on Monday, October 7, to perform its trajectory
correction maneuver for the first asteroid flyby.
The maneuver, scheduled to start at 1656 Universal Time
(Earth received time 10:17 a.m. PDT) on Wednesday, will change
the spacecraft velocity by less than one mile per hour to bring
it on target for the encounter with the asteroid Gaspra on
October 29. This maneuver is based on optical navigation, data
obtained with Galileo's camera, as well as radio tracking data.
The mission sequence includes opportunities for additional fine
adjustments if needed.
Galileo is now 231 million miles from Earth and 201 million
miles from the Sun; its speed in orbit is more than 36,000 miles
per hour.
Pictures of the asteroid and other scientific data will be
stored in the spacecraft tape recorder for playback to Earth
either when Galileo's high-gain antenna becomes available or when
the spacecraft again approaches Earth in November 1992, as
currently planned. This data transmission procedure was usedafter Galileo's February 1990 encounter with Venus.
The Galileo Project is managed for NASA's Office of Space
Science and Applications by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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#1397; 10-8-91 jhw