Tuesday, March 9, 2010

AMF-8 Moves SDO Perigee Altitude to 34.6 Mm

Apogee Motor Firing #8, the last orbit raising maneuver, was successfully completed Monday night. This burn raised the SDO perigee altitude to about 34,600 km for a period of about 23 hr. With this orbit SDO will appear to drift eastward toward our final longitude.

Now that we are close to our final orbit the main engine plumbing will be vented to exhaust fuel and oxidizer from the lines. The first Trim Motor Firing (TMF #1) is planned for Thursday evening.