STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2020-08-18 (Week 34) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * Ahead is operating nominally. PLASTIC is back to operational mode, but with a higher background rate. * 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 33 (Aug 10-16) * On day 227 (Aug 14), during the DSS-24 support for Ahead, beginning of track telemetry was delayed by 52 minutes until 0057z due to a receiver configuration problem. MOPs repositioned the SSR pointers and recovered all the affected data. See DR #G121295 for more information. * On day 224 (Aug 11), the 130th momentum dump on Ahead was executed successfully at 2100z, which imparted an estimated delta V of 0.073 m/sec. This was the 49th momentum dump conducted without gyro use. After thruster operations completed, there was a 0.3 degree of roll angle error. Fine pointing stabilized 2.6 minutes after completion of the momentum dump. * As of day 229 (Aug 16), all PLASTIC systems are behaving well, except there is a high background count rate, which the team is continuing to monitor. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 6.4 Gbits during this week. Week 34 (Aug 17-23) * Ahead has eleven passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, three at 480 kbps, and three at 360 kbps. Week 35 (Aug 24-30) * Ahead has thirteen passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are seven passes at 720 kbps, one at 480 kbps, four at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 36 (Aug 31-Sep 6) * Ahead has fourteen passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, three at 480 kbps, and three at 360 kbps. Week 37 (Sep 7-13) * Ahead has ten passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, three at 480 kbps, and one at 360 kbps. * Monday, Sep 7, is Labor Day, which is an APL holiday. * An ESA New Norcia pass is scheduled for Thursday, Sep 10, from 08:05-10:45 UT. Week 38 (Sep 14-20) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, four at 480 kbps, and three at 360 kbps. * The 131th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Thursday, Sep 17, with ignition at 21:45 UT. Week 39 (Sep 21-27) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are four passes at 720 kbps, two at 480 kbps, and six at 360 kbps. * The sixth SECCHI campaign for the Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass runs from Sep 22 to Oct 2. * Betelgeuse will be visible in SECCHI HI2 without rolling the spacecraft from Sep 16 to Nov 18. The main purpose of observing Betelgeuse during this time would be for cross-calibration with other telescopes. The next period when Betelgeuse can be observed with 180 degree roll is May 13-Jul 15, 2021. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 34: M Aug 17 (230) T Aug 18 (231) W Aug 19 (232) T Aug 20 (233) F Aug 21 (234) S Aug 22 (235) S Aug 23 (236) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 35: M Aug 24 (237) T Aug 25 (238) W Aug 26 (239) T Aug 27 (240) F Aug 28 (241) S Aug 29 (242) S Aug 30 (243) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 36: M Aug 31 (244) T Sep 01 (245) W Sep 02 (246) T Sep 03 (247) F Sep 04 (248) S Sep 05 (249) S Sep 06 (250) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 37: M Sep 07 (251) Labor Day T Sep 08 (252) W Sep 09 (253) T Sep 10 (254) F Sep 11 (255) S Sep 12 (256) S Sep 13 (257) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 38: M Sep 14 (258) T Sep 15 (259) W Sep 16 (260) T Sep 17 (261) Ahead: Momentum dump, 21:45 UT F Sep 18 (262) S Sep 19 (263) S Sep 20 (264) Notes: * Betelgeuse visible in SECCHI HI2 without roll, Sep 16-Nov 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 39: M Sep 21 (265) T Sep 22 (266) Start of Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass W Sep 23 (267) T Sep 24 (268) F Sep 25 (269) S Sep 26 (270) S Sep 27 (271) Notes: * Betelgeuse visible in SECCHI HI2 without roll, Sep 16-Nov 18 * Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass, Sep 22-Oct 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2020: * Sep 16-Nov 18 Betelgeuse visible in SECCHI HI2 without roll * 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 * May 13-Jul 15 Betelgeuse visible in SECCHI HI2 with 180 degree roll * 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, in HI2-A field-of-view * 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