PDS_VERSION_ID          = PDS3
RECORD_TYPE             = STREAM

OBJECT                  = TEXT
   INTERCHANGE_FORMAT   = ASCII
   PUBLICATION_DATE     = 2009-10-26
   NOTE                 = "PC-Kernel Information"
END_OBJECT              = TEXT

END


General information about SPICE PC-kernels
==========================================

   In the SPICE system, the PC-kernels (PCK) contain orientation and
   shape information pertaining to extended solar system bodies such as
   the Sun, the planets, the natural satellites of the planets, comets,
   and asteroids. The most recent generic PC kernel file can always be
   obtained from NAIF/JPL.

   The purpose of the PCK kernels and associated software is to provide
   SPICE users with a convenient mechanism for supplying planetary
   physical constants to application programs. SPICELIB's PCK software
   is able to read files conforming to the PCK format and return to a
   calling application program both the data contained in such files
   and a small number of commonly used numeric quantities derived from
   the kernel data. Information regarding how to obtain the SPICE Toolkit for
   a number of languages and computer platforms is located in the
   ``/software'' subdirectory of the main directory of this data set.

   Refer to the PCK Required Reading (pck.req) document provided with
   the toolkit or available from the NAIF Node of PDS if SPICE toolkit
   is not included with this data set to get more information on how to
   access PC-kernel data.


Hayabusa PC-kernels Provided in This Data Set
=============================================

   This directory contains PCK files used by the Hayabusa project. The
   following files are present in this directory. (Only file names are
   shown; the file name extensions of the text PCK kernel files are
   always ``.tpc''):

      itokawa_aizu504     PCK file containing the asteroid Itokawa
                          radii values, body-fixed frame definition,
                          and rotation constants derived by the
                          Hayabusa team at University of Aizu.
 
      itokawa_gaskell     PCK file containing the asteroid Itokawa
                          radii values, body-fixed frame definition,
                          and rotation constants derived by Dr. Robert
                          W. Gaskell, PSI. It contains rotation
                          constants consistent with the Itokawa shape
                          model stored in the DBK file
                          ``itokawa_gaskell070104.bdb'' included in
                          this data set.
 
      itokawa_gaskell_n3  PCK file containing the asteroid Itokawa
                          radii values, body-fixed frame definition,
                          and rotation constants derived by Dr. Robert
                          W. Gaskell, PSI. The original name of this
                          files was Itokawa_Gaskell_n3.tpc. It contains
                          rotation constants consistent with the 
                          Itokawa shape models archived in the PDS
                          data set HAY-A-AMICA-5-ITOKAWASHAPE-V1.0.
 
      pck00008            generic PCK  file containing IAU 2000
                          rotation and shape constants for planets,
                          satellites, and some asteroids, created by
                          NAIF.

   All text PCK files provided in this data set are in UNIX text format,
   with a line feed character (ASCII 10) at the end of the line.

   In most cases these two PCK files

      pck00008.tpc
      itokawa_gaskell_n3.tpc

   should be loaded into a user's application to process data for
   the surveying and collection phase of the mission.


Kernel file details
===================

   The most detailed description of the data in a text PCK file is
   provided in metadata included inside the description area of the
   file. This information can be viewed using any text editor program.

   The most detailed description of the data in a binary PCK file is
   provided in metadata included inside the comment area of the file.
   This information can be viewed using the utility programs COMMNT and
   SPACIT included into the SPICE Toolkit.