STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2018-12-18 (Week 51) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * Because of the holidays, the next STEREO telecon will be on Wednesday, Jan 2. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * Ahead is operating nominally. * Four years after the initial loss of communications anomaly with the Behind observatory, NASA has directed to cease periodic recovery operations with the last support on October 17, 2018. DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS ------------------------------------- Week 50 (Dec 10-16) * On day 350 (Dec 16), before BOT at 1120z for the DSS-63 support for Ahead, the transmitter was declared red due to a microwave controller issue at the station. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 3.25 hours of commanding and two-way tracking data. All SSR data were received. See DR# M111051 for more information. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 6.2 Gbits during this week. Week 51 (Dec 17-23) * The problems with the station 63 transmitter carried into Monday, Dec 17, causing Ahead acquisition to be 21 minutes late as the transmitter was repaired. The SSR pointers were moved back to avoid data loss. * The station 63 transmitter was again down for this morning's (Dec 18) track for Ahead. * The 4th SLE test with the DSN was going on during the telecon (Dec 18), and is reported to be very successful. * The 115th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec 19, with ignition at 17:00 UT. This will be the 34th dump without using the gyros. This dump will be occuring during an ESA Cebreros pass. * Ahead has fourteen passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, two at 240 kbps, and four at 160 kbps, including two ESA Cebreros passes. Week 52 (Dec 24-30) * Tuesday, Dec 25, is Christmas. Monday, Dec 24 is also a holiday for APL. * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, one at 240 kbps, and three at 160 kbps. Week 1 (Dec 31-Jan 6) * Tuesday, Jan 1, is the New Year's Day holiday. Monday, Dec 31 is also a holiday at APL. * On Thursday, Jan 3, the Ahead spacecraft resumes emergency rates of 120 bps upload and 633 bps download, using the LGA with a 70 meter station. * The fifth SLE test with ESA is scheduled for Friday, Jan 4. * Ahead has eleven passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, and one at 160 kbps. Week 2 (Jan 7-13) * Ahead has nine passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 3 (Jan 14-20) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are nine passes at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 4 (Jan 21-27) * The Martin Luther King federal holiday occurs on Monday, Jan 21. This is not a holiday at APL. * Ahead has 11 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, one at 360 kbps, and two at 240 kbps. Week 5 (Jan 28-Feb 3) * The 116th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan 30, with ignition at 21:00 UT. This is the 35th dump without using the gyros. * Ahead has 9 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 51: M Dec 17 (351) T Dec 18 (352) W Dec 19 (353) Ahead: Momentum dump, 17:00 UT T Dec 20 (354) F Dec 21 (355) S Dec 22 (356) S Dec 23 (357) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 52: M Dec 24 (358) Christmas Eve (APL holiday) T Dec 25 (359) Christmas W Dec 26 (360) T Dec 27 (361) F Dec 28 (362) S Dec 29 (363) S Dec 30 (364) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 01: M Dec 31 (365) New Year's Eve (APL holiday) T Jan 01 (001) New Year's Day W Jan 02 (002) T Jan 03 (003) F Jan 04 (004) S Jan 05 (005) S Jan 06 (006) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 02: M Jan 07 (007) T Jan 08 (008) W Jan 09 (009) T Jan 10 (010) F Jan 11 (011) S Jan 12 (012) S Jan 13 (013) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 03: M Jan 14 (014) T Jan 15 (015) W Jan 16 (016) T Jan 17 (017) F Jan 18 (018) S Jan 19 (019) S Jan 20 (020) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 04: M Jan 21 (021) Martin Luther King day T Jan 22 (022) W Jan 23 (023) T Jan 24 (024) F Jan 25 (025) S Jan 26 (026) S Jan 27 (027) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 05: M Jan 28 (028) T Jan 29 (029) W Jan 30 (030) Ahead: Momentum dump, 21:00 UT T Jan 31 (031) F Feb 01 (032) S Feb 02 (033) S Feb 03 (034) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2019: * Mar Ahead: Switch downlink rate to 240 kbps for 34 meter * Mar 31-Apr 10 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Apr Behind: Switch downlink rate to 240 kbps for 34 meter * Aug 28-Sep 7 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Nov 4 Ahead: Close approach of Parker Solar Probe * Dec 26 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby 2020: * Jan 24-Feb 4 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * May Behind: Switch downlink rate to 360 kbps for 34 meter * Jun Ahead: Switch downlink rate to 360 kbps for 34 meter * Jun Behind: Switch downlink rate to 480 kbps for 34 meter * Jun 2-13 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Jul 11 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby * Sep Ahead: Switch downlink rate to 480 kbps for 34 meter * Sep 22-Oct 2 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2021: * Jan 13-23 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Feb 20 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby * Apr 25-May 4 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Jul Behind: Switch downlink rate to 720 kbps for 34 meter * Aug Ahead: Switch downlink rate to 720 kbps for 34 meter * Aug 5-15 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Oct 16 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby * Nov 17-26 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2022: * Feb 21-Mar 2 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * May 28-Jun 7 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Sep 2-11 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Dec 7-16 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2023: * Mar 13-23 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * May 5 Behind: Mercury transit * Jun 17-27 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Jul 17 Behind: Closest approach to Earth * Aug 13 Ahead: Closest approach to Earth * Aug 21 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby * Sep 23-Oct 3 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Dec 25-Jan 3 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2024: * Mar 26-Apr 4 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Jun 26-Jul 5 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Sep 26-Oct 5 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Nov 6 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby * Dec 20-29 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2025: * Mar 19-27 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Apr 7 Ahead: Mercury transit * Jun 15-24 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2026: 2027: * Feb 1 Behind: Mercury transit 2028: 2029: * Jun 30 Ahead: Mercury transit