STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2014-09-16 (Week 38) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * All subsystems on both spacecraft are nominal. Ahead is operating on the first side lobe of the HGA to prevent overheating of the feed assembly. DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS ------------------------------------- Week 37 (Sep 8-14) * On day 257 (Sep 14), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently beginning at 0633z through 0634z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 57 frames of SSR data. See DR #N109725 more information. * On day 251 (Sep 8), during the DSS-25 support for Ahead, communications on the first side lobe were tested at the 1 kbps and 3 kbps downlink rates with a DSN 34 meter station on the Ahead observatory. At the 3 kbps downlink rate using the XHEMT receiver, while carrier and symbol lock were achieved, the signal level was too low for telemetry lock even at higher elevations. At 1551z, the station switched to the maser receiver and telemetry lock was achieved with approximately 1.5 dB of downlink margin at high elevation. An SSR playback of the spacecraft data was conducted. At 1732z, the 1 kbps downlink rate was tested with approximately 7 dB downlink margin on the first side lobe and approximately 2 dB on the second side lobe. Commanding was successful at the 125 bps and 500 bps uplink rates. * On day 251 (Sep 8), PLASTIC conducted real-time commanding on Behind to adjust the MCP voltages. * On day 253 (Sep 10), DHS parameters and MOps macros for side lobe operations at 3 kbps and 10 kbps downlink rates were loaded to C&DH RAM on Behind in preparations for the Behind solar conjunction testing to commence on day 270 (Sep 27). * The average daily SSR playback volume during the week was 0.095 gigabits on Ahead, and 3.5 gigabits on Behind. * The HGA feed temperatures are currently 106 C on Ahead, and 94.0 C on Behind, with an antenna angle of 9.4 degrees on both spacecraft. The Ahead temperature is running a little warmer than predicted. Week 38 (Sep 15-21) * Fault protection release versions 2.3.14 and 2.3.15 were loaded into EEPROM on Behind yesterday (Sep 15). * Today (Sep 16) the latest mission ops macros (1.24) for C&DH RAM will be uploaded to EEPROM on Behind, and EA mode bypass will be enabled. * There will be a test readiness review on Thursday, Sep 18, for the Behind testing. * Ahead has 7 passes during the week, all at 10 kbps on the first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Behind has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are two passes at 720 kbps, four passes at 160 kbps, and seven passes at 120 kbps. Week 39 (Sep 22-28) * Solar conjunction testing for Behind will start on Saturday, Sep 27. A more detailed schedule has been distributed. Instruments will be turned off by 18 UT, with the exception of SWAVES which will remain on. SWAVES will be powered cycled twice during the test. POC queues will be open on Friday and Saturday for instrument commanding. Testing will include reconfiguration of the SSR. * On Sunday, Sep 28, the HGA angle bias will be switched to the first side lobe. The 67th momentum dump will be carried out during the station 14 pass on the first side lobe, starting at 16:30 UT, with a lower target of 8 N-m-s as will be used during solar conjunction. The commands for the momentum dump will be loaded during the previous pass. The spacecraft will be commanded to reset at 17:30 UT, and will come up at 633 bps, and slowly rotating at 5 degrees/minute. * Ahead has 7 passes during the week, all at 10 kbps on the first side lobe, in SWAVES-prime mode. * Behind has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are two passes at 720 kbps, four passes at 160 kbps, and seven passes at 120 kbps. ESA New Norcia passes are scheduled for Monday, Sep 22, and Wednesday, Sep 24. Week 40 (Sep 29-Oct 5) * A momentum dump on Ahead will be carried out on Tuesday, Sep 30, with ignition at 22:00 UT. The commands for the momentum dump will be loaded during the previous pass. * Solar conjunction testing on Behind will continue during the week. The earlier testing on Ahead concentrated on the process of going into solar conjunction. These tests will concentrate on the process of coming out. The recorder is also reconfigured during these tests, which was not done during the Ahead testing. * During the first pass on Monday, Sep 29, the MOC will watch the spacecraft rotate. At 05:30 UT a macro will put the spacecraft into 3-axis stabilized mode. * On Tuesday, Sep 30, the 48 hour fault protection rule will trigger at 17:30 UT, switching to the -Z LGA. * On Wednesday, Oct 1, Behind the soft command load timer will trigger at 5:30 UT, switching to the +Z LGA, and start the spacecraft slowly rotating. Station 14 will acquire the signal at 15:30, at 12 bps, and will watch the spacecraft rotate. At 17:50, the 3 day hard command loss timer will trigger, resetting the spacecraft, and setting it back to 3 axis stabilized on the second side lobe. It will then be commanded to a 1 degree offset at 120 kbps, and spacecraft will be reconfigured back to operational mode. * On Thursday, Oct 2, the spacecraft will come up at a 1 degree offset, and will be commanded back to the center of the main lobe. Instrument power on is expected to begin during the station 36 support starting at 15:30 UT. An ESA New Norcia support is also available later in the day, as well as another DSN support and an ESA New Norcia support on Friday. The remainder of the passes during the week will be using 70 meter stations. * Ahead has 9 passes during the week, all at 10 kbps on the first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Behind has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are three passes at 720 kbps, one pass at 160 kbps, six passes at 120 kbps, two passes at 0.633 kbps, and one pass at 0.012 kbps. ESA passes have been scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Oct 2-3. Week 41 (Oct 6-12) * Ahead has seven passes during the week, all at 10 kbps on the first side lobe, in SWAVES prime mode. * Behind has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, two passes at 160 kbps, and six passes at 120 kbps. An ESA New Norcia pass is scheduled for Thursday, Oct 9. Week 42 (Oct 13-19) * The 30th SECCHI step-calibration for Behind is on Tuesday, Oct 14 (orbit mid-point) starting at 12:00 UT. * Ahead has nine passes during the week, eight are regular DSN passes at 10 kbps. There will also be an additional ESA pass with New Norcia on Thursday, Oct 17, for spacecraft health and safety. There will be no science coming down on this track and, because it is only 1.3 hours long, probably not enough time to send commands. All commanding is on the first side lobe, in IMPACT prime mode. * Behind has 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are three passes at 720 kbps, three passes at 160 kbps, and six passes at 120 kbps. Week 43 (Oct 20-26) * The solar conjunction readiness review for both spacecraft is scheduled for Thursday, Oct 23, from 8:30-1:00 EDT. * Saturday, Oct 25, is the eighth anniversary of the launch of STEREO. * Ahead has 7 passes during the week, all at 10 kbps on the first side lobe, in SWAVES-prime mode. * Behind has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are three passes at 160 kbps, and ten passes at 120 kbps. Three of the passes are with the ESA New Norcia station. Week 44 (Oct 27-Nov 2) * Daily savings time in the U.S. ends on Sunday, Nov 2. * Ahead has 7 passes during the week, all at 10 kbps on the first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Behind has 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. Two passes are at 720 kbps, two at 160 kbps, and eight at 120 kbps. Four of the passes are with the ESA Malargue and New Norcia stations. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 38: M Sep 15 (258) T Sep 16 (259) W Sep 17 (260) T Sep 18 (261) F Sep 19 (262) S Sep 20 (263) S Sep 21 (264) MAVEN arrival at Mars Notes: * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 39: M Sep 22 (265) T Sep 23 (266) W Sep 24 (267) T Sep 25 (268) F Sep 26 (269) S Sep 27 (270) Behind: Instruments off for solar conjunction testing, 18 UT (except SWAVES) S Sep 28 (271) Behind: Switch to first side lobe. Momentum dump, 16:30 UT. Spacecraft reset at 17:30 UT, come up at 633 bps, rotating 5 degrees/minute. Notes: * Test of solar conjunction operations on Behind, Sep 27-Oct 3 * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in SWAVES-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 40: M Sep 29 (272) Behind: Solar conjunction testing continues Behind: Timed command to 3-axis stabilized, 5:30 UT T Sep 30 (273) Behind: Switch to -Z LGA, 17:30 UT Ahead: Momentum dump, 22:00 UT W Oct 01 (274) Behind: Switch to +Z LGA and start rotating, 5:30 UT Hard command loss timer, 17:50, switch to 3 axis stab. Switch from 2nd side lobe to 1 degree offset, 120 kbps T Oct 02 (275) Behind: Command back to 0 degree offset on main lobe. Recover spacecraft, start powering instruments back on. F Oct 03 (276) Behind: Continue recovery as needed S Oct 04 (277) S Oct 05 (278) Notes: * Test of solar conjunction operations on Behind, Sep 27-Oct 3 * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 41: M Oct 06 (279) T Oct 07 (280) W Oct 08 (281) T Oct 09 (282) F Oct 10 (283) S Oct 11 (284) S Oct 12 (285) Notes: * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in SWAVES-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 42: M Oct 13 (286) T Oct 14 (287) Behind: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 12:00 UT W Oct 15 (288) T Oct 16 (289) F Oct 17 (290) Behind: Comet Siding Spring encounter with Mars S Oct 18 (291) S Oct 19 (292) Notes: * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 43: M Oct 20 (293) T Oct 21 (294) W Oct 22 (295) T Oct 23 (296) Both: Solar Conjunction Readiness Review F Oct 24 (297) S Oct 25 (298) 8th anniversary of STEREO launch S Oct 26 (299) Notes: * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in SWAVES-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 44: M Oct 27 (300) T Oct 28 (301) W Oct 29 (302) T Oct 30 (303) F Oct 31 (304) S Nov 01 (305) S Nov 02 (306) End of daily savings time in U.S. Notes: * Ahead operating on first side lobe, in IMPACT-prime mode. * Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2 on Behind, Sep 07-Nov 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: 2014: * Sep 07-Nov 15 Behind: Passage of Comet Siding Spring through HI2-B * Nov 10 Ahead: HGA on 2nd side lobe * Nov 17 Ahead: Test with 34 meter at 633 bps * Nov 19 Behind: HGA hits soft stop * Nov 28 Behind: SSR reconfiguration * Dec 1 Behind: HGA on 1st side lobe * Dec 8 Behind: Test with 34 meter at 633 bps, both side lobes 2015: * Jan 6 Behind: HGA on 2nd side lobe * Jan 12 Behind: Test with 34 meter at 633 bps * Jan 20 Behind: Instrument power down * Jan 22 - Mar 23 Behind: Spacecraft behind Sun * Mar DAWN - Ceres arrival * Mar 22 Ahead: Instrument power down * Mar 23 - Apr 06 Behind: S/C SSR Playback at 3 kbps * Mar 24 - Jul 07 Ahead: Spacecraft behind Sun * Mar 30 Behind: Instrument power on * Apr 25 Behind: HGA on 1st side lobe * Jul DAWN - End of nominal mission * Jul 8 Behind: HGA on 2nd side lobe * Jul 7-28 Ahead: S/C SSR Playback at 3 kbps * Jul 14 Ahead: Instrument power on * Sep 24 Ahead: HGA on 1st side lobe * Nov 20 Behind: HGA on 1st side lobe * Dec 29 Ahead: HGA on main lobe, offpoint 1 degree Ahead: SSR playback and reconfiguration, S/C checkout * Dec 31 Ahead: Instrument recommissioning 2016: * Jan 2 Behind: HGA on main lobe Behind: SSR playback and reconfiguration, S/C checkout * Jan 5 Behind: Instrument recommissioning * Jan 27 Both: HGA calibration * Feb 19 Ahead: HGA on main lobe * Mar 16 Both: Post Solar Conjunction Assessment Review * Jul 5 Juno arrival at Jupiter 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