STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2011-10-18 (Week 42) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * The window for the network reconfiguration for Nov 19 has been changed from 12 hours to 36 hours. See below for details. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * All subsystems on both spacecraft are nominal. DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS ------------------------------------- Week 41 (Oct 10-16) * On day 289 (Oct 16), during the DSS 34 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly beginning at 0108z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of two frames of SSR data. * On day 286 (Oct 13) at 0725z, the space weather broadcast on Ahead was switched to the turbo encoded format for duration of five hours to allow the NOAA stations in Germany to test the turbo decoding capability. This test was highly successful on both amateur stations in Germany. * On day 284 (Oct 11), during the DSS 63 support for Behind, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 1427z and again at 1622z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of two frames of SSR data. See DR# N107658 for more information. * On day 287 (Oct 14), for the DSS 45 support for Behind, the transmitter was declared red prior to the track. Later in the support at 0745z, telemetry lock was lost intermittently due to heavy rain at the Canberra complex. This anomaly resulted in the loss of an hour of SSR data and all commanding and two-way tracking data for the duration of the support. See DR# C108237 for more information. Problems with the station 45 transmitter being red continue. * On day 288 (Oct 15), during the DSS 34 support for Behind, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently at 0818z and again at 1025z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of several minutes of SSR data. * On day 289 (Oct 16), the last hour of the DSS 14 support for Behind was given to the DAWN mission due to ongoing equipment failures at DSS 45 and DSS 24. While all SSR data was planned to be received, telemetry lock was lost ten minutes early at 0100z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 30 minutes of SSR data. * The average daily SSR downlink was 5.3 gigabits on Ahead, and the same on Behind. * The SSC reports that some data are missing for all the instruments on Ahead on Oct 10. The MOC will investigate. Week 42 (Oct 17-23) * Continuing problems with the station 45 transmitter caused the passes for both Ahead and Behind yesterday (Oct 17) to be downlink only. All SSR data were recovered. * Ahead reached aphelion on Monday, Oct 17. The associated SECCHI stepped calibration roll is the following week. * Ahead has a 70 meter pass on Monday, Oct 17 using station 14. There are 9 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. Passes on Monday, Oct 17, and Sunday, Oct 23, will be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has a 70 meter pass on Thursday, Oct 20, using station 14, which will be carried out at 720 kbps. There are 13 passes during the week, and coverage is short 1.1 hours on Friday, Oct 21. The station 45 pass on Monday, Oct 17, will be carried out at 240 kbps. Week 43 (Oct 24-30) * The 19th SECCHI stepped calibration roll will be carried out on Ahead on Wednesday, day 299 (Oct 26), starting at 08:25 UT. This will be the aphelion roll. The actual date of aphelion is day 290 (Oct 17). System momentum will be about 1 N-m-s. * Oct 26 is also the five year anniversary of the launch of STEREO. * Ahead has 70 meter passes on Monday, Oct 24 (D63), Tuesday, Oct 25 (D14), and Wednesday, Oct 26 (D14). There are 10 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. Two passes on Saturday will be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has a 70 meter pass on Wednesday, Oct 26 using station 63. There are 12 passes during the week, and coverage is short 1.2 hours between Sunday and Monday, Oct 23-24. Week 44 (Oct 31-Nov 6) * There will be a test with the ESA reference station on Nov 1, between 14-17 UT, using simulated data. If the instrument teams are connected during this test, they will see data about 1 month old. This pass will not show up in the weekly schedule. No tracking data will be involved in the test. The test will include closing the command link. * Daylight savings time is ending in the U.S. on Nov 6 at 06:00 UT. * Ahead has 70 meter passes on Monday, Oct 31 (D14), Tuesday, Nov 1 (D14), Wednesday, Nov 2 (D63, at 720 kbps), and Saturday, Nov 5 (D43). There are 10 tracks during the week, and coverage is nominal. * Behind has 70 meter passes on Wednsday, Nov 2 (D63), and Saturday, Nov 5 (D43 at 720 kbps, and D63). There are 12 passes during the week, and coverage is short 1.4 hours between Monday and Tuesday (Oct 31-Nov 1). Week 45 (Nov 7-13) * The 19th SECCHI stepped calibration roll on Behind will occur on Tuesday, Nov 8, starting at 9:25 UT. This will be the aphelion roll. The actual aphelion is the next day. System momentum is expected to be 5 N-m-s. * Ahead has 70 meter passes on Monday, Nov 7 (D14), Wednesday, Nov 9 (D63), Friday, Nov 11 (D63), Saturday, Nov 12 (D63 at 720 kbps), and Sunday, Nov 13 (D14). There are 10 passes during the week, and coverage is nominal. The Thursday pass on station 15 will be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has two 70 meter passes on Thursday, Nov 10 (D63), and Saturday, Nov 12 (D43 twice, first at 720 kbps). There are 12 passes during the week, and coverage is nominal. Week 46 (Nov 14-20) * The 42nd momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov 15, with ignition at 16:30 UT. * The 36th momentum dump on Behind is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 16, with ignition at 22:00 UT. * There will be network re-architecture activity at APL on Saturday, Nov 19, starting 12 UT (7 AM EST) and lasting for 36 hours though Sunday evening, although there is a chance the work will be done by 24 UT on Nov 19. The instrument teams will lose connectivity during this time. However, the IONET will be unaffected, and telemetry and commanding will be available in the MOC. IDRs will be pulled in manually, and processing of them may be slower than normal. The MOC has asked that the network be reconnected temporarily each day for IDR files. Tracks will be staffed during this work. * Ahead has 70 meter passes on Monday, Nov 14 (D14), Tuesday, Nov 15 (D14), Friday, Nov 18 (D63), and Saturday, Nov 19 (D63). All but the Monday pass will be carried out at 720 kbps. There are 10 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. * Behind has 70 meter passes on Tuesday, Nov 15 (D14), Wednesday, Nov 16 (D14), and Thursday, Nov 17 (D43). There are 10 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 47 (Nov 21-27) * Thanksgiving is on Thursday, Nov 24. The following Friday is also a holiday at APL. * The launch window for the MSL opens at 15:21 UT on Nov 25. Launch contingency DSN schedules are not yet available. * Ahead has a 70 meter pass on Wednesday, Nov 23 using station 14. There are 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. The station 15 pass on Tuesday, Nov 22, and the station 26 pass on Saturday, Nov 26, will be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has 70 meter passes on Tuesday, Nov 22 (D63 and D14), Wednesday, Nov 23 (D14 at 720 kbps), Thursday, Nov 24 (D14), and Friday, Nov 25 (D14 at 720 kbps). There are 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 48 (Nov 28-Dec 4) * Friday, Dec 2, marks the end of the use of the 34 meters with the low gain antenna (LGA) for emergencies. Use of the LGA with 70 meter stations will continue through the rest of the mission, though this use will be restricted to higher elevations later in the mission. * Ahead has 70 meter passes on Monday, Nov 28 (D63), Tuesday, Nov 29 (D63 and D14), and Wednesday, Nov 30 (D14). There are 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. The station 54 and 15 passes on Friday, Dec 2, and the station 55 pass on Saturday, Dec 3, will be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has 70 meter passes on Monday, Nov 28 (D63), Wednesday, Nov 30 (D14), Thursday, Dec 1 (D63), Friday, Dec 2 (D63), and Sunday, Dec 4 (D63). There are 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. Other * There was some discussion about recent 1553 bus errors noted by the IMPACT and PLASTIC teams. * The SSC has reorganized a number of ancillary data products on their website to be separated by year. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 42: M Oct 17 (290) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Oct 18 (291) W Oct 19 (292) T Oct 20 (293) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 F Oct 21 (294) S Oct 22 (295) S Oct 23 (296) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 43: M Oct 24 (297) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 T Oct 25 (298) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 W Oct 26 (299) Ahead: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 8:25 UT Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 T Oct 27 (300) F Oct 28 (301) S Oct 29 (302) S Oct 30 (303) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 44: M Oct 31 (304) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Nov 01 (305) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 W Nov 02 (306) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 T Nov 03 (307) F Nov 04 (308) S Nov 05 (309) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 43 Behind: 70 meter downlink on stations 43 and 63 S Nov 06 (310) Daylight savings time ends in USA Notes: * Behind test with ESA reference station Nov 1, 14-17 UT, using simulated data ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 45: M Nov 07 (311) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Nov 08 (312) Behind: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 9:25 UT W Nov 09 (313) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 T Nov 10 (314) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 F Nov 11 (315) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 S Nov 12 (316) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 43 (twice) S Nov 13 (317) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 46: M Nov 14 (318) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Nov 15 (319) Ahead: Momentum dump, 16:30 UT Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 W Nov 16 (320) Behind: Momentum dump, 22:00 UT Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Nov 17 (321) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 43 F Nov 18 (322) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 S Nov 19 (323) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 S Nov 20 (324) Notes: * Outside access to the APL/MOC will be unavailable on Saturday, Nov 19, between 7 AM and 7 PM EST (12-24 UT) due to network re-architecture. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 47: M Nov 21 (325) T Nov 22 (326) Behind: 70 meter downlink on stations 63 and 14 W Nov 23 (327) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Nov 24 (328) Thanksgiving Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 F Nov 25 (329) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 S Nov 26 (330) S Nov 27 (331) Notes: * Both Thursday and Friday, Nov 24-25, are holidays at APL. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 48: M Nov 28 (332) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 63 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 T Nov 29 (333) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on stations 63 and 14 W Nov 30 (334) Ahead: 70 meter downlink on station 14 Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 14 T Dec 01 (335) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 F Dec 02 (336) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 S Dec 03 (337) S Dec 04 (338) Behind: 70 meter downlink on station 63 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: 2012: * Jan 11 Both: HGA calibration * Jul DAWN - Vesta departure * Jul 11 Both: HGA calibration * Nov 4 Behind: Switch downlink rate to 120 kbps * Nov 13 Total solar eclipse, south Pacific 2013: * May 3 Ahead: Switch downlink rate to 120 kbps * Dec 12 Ahead: Mercury transit 2014: * Jan 20 Behind: End use of 480 kbps on 70 m DSN subnet * Apr 21 Behind: Resume use of 480 kbps on 70 m DSN subnet * Apr 29 Behind: Mercury transit * Oct 15 Behind: End use of 480 kbps on 70 m DSN subnet 2015: * Feb DAWN - Ceres arrival * Jan 20 - Mar 28 (TBC) Behind: Spacecraft behind Sun * Mar 17 - Jul 14 (TBC) Ahead: Spacecraft behind Sun * Jul 2 Behind: Resume use of 480 kbps on 70 m DSN subnet * Aug 25 - Oct 19 (TBC) Behind: Spacecraft behind Sun * Sep 25 Behind: End use of 480 kbps on 70 m DSN subnet * Jul DAWN - End of nominal mission 2016: * Apr 3 Behind: Resume use of 480 kbps on 70 m DSN subnet 2017: * Jul 11 Ahead: Switch downlink rate to 160 kbps * Jul 22 Behind: Switch downlink rate to 160 kbps 2018: * Mar 5 Ahead: Mercury transit