Thank you for visiting the Deep Space 1 mission status information site, the most authoritative known logged source of information on this technology validation mission in the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. This message was logged in at 9:00 pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, November 17.

The first major test of the autonomous navigation system, affectionately and unimaginatively known as AutoNav, was conducted on the spacecraft today. Under AutoNav's control, the spacecraft turned to point the camera at different asteroids and stars and took images of them. Because the asteroids are much closer than the stars, the apparent position of an asteroid relative to the more distant stars will allow the spacecraft to estimate where it is in the solar system. This is based on parallax and is the same phenomenon you observe if you hold a finger in front of your face and view it through each eye separately. The apparent position of your finger changes as you shift from one eye to the other. If you knew the exact location of your finger and of the background objects, you could determine which eye was perceiving the scene. Because AutoNav knows where the asteroids are and where the more distant stars are, it can determine where it is in the solar system when the picture is taken.

The operations team watched as AutoNav took the spacecraft to several different orientations to collect its data. After 12 of the expected 20 images were taken, the spacecraft apparently turned to an orientation in which the onboard Sun detector was not able to retain its view of the Sun. Although this should be a legal orientation, it caused the spacecraft's protective software to declare a problem. It terminated the activity and commanded the spacecraft to a safe configuration. The operations team began returning the spacecraft to its normal configuration today and will complete that commanding tomorrow.

The preliminary view of AutoNav's performance is that it operated extremely well; the more detailed analysis is a critical part of DS1's mission of validating new technologies.

In preparation for renewed tests of the ion propulsion system, modifications of the system's software are underway. The changes will give engineers greater resolution in studying currents and voltages when the thruster tries to start. The new software will be tested for a few more days before being transmitted to the spacecraft. Several different strategies for resuming thrusting are being evaluated, and a decision on which ones to pursue and in which order should be made soon. As with all other activities, the operations team is proceeding with the prudence that is always necessary in controlling a probe in deep space.

While Earthlings are being treated to the wonderful spectacle of the Leonid meteors and some controllers of Earth orbiting spacecraft have been concerned about the effects of these high speed particles on their spacecraft, Deep Space 1 remained safe. DS1's closest approach to the trail of debris occurred on Saturday, November 14, but the spacecraft was still more than 2 million kilometers from the orbit of the comet in which the debris travels.

Deep Space 1 is now more than 10 times as far away from Earth as the moon. Each day it recedes from Earth by nearly 150,000 kilometers, or more than 90,000 miles.