STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2012-11-13 (Week 46) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * Significant coverage shortfalls for the Behind spacecraft are expected starting during week 46 and continuing through the end of the year. See below for details. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * All subsystems on both spacecraft are nominal. DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS ------------------------------------- Week 45 (Nov 5-11) * On day 310 (Nov 5), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently beginning at 0848z through 0849z due to a transmitter problem and again at 0924z through 0930z due to the antenna brakes being applied. These anomalies resulted in the loss of several minutes (35060 frames) of SSR data. See DRs# M106981 & M106984 for more information. * On day 313 (Nov 8), during the DSS-15 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 1535z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of one frame of SSR data. See DR# N108527 for more information. * On day 315 (Nov 10), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 0750z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 42 frames of SSR data. See DR# N108529 for more information. * On day 316 (Nov 11), during the DSS-55 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 0749z and again at 0815z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of two frames of SSR data. See DR# N108528 for more information. * On day 316 (Nov 11), during the DSS-15 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently beginning at 1331z through 1400z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 1831 frames of SSR data. See DR# G113375 for more information. * On day 310 (Nov 4), during the DSS-63 support for Behind, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 1209z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 13 frames of SSR data. See DR# N108500 for more information. * On day 313 (Nov 8), during the DSS-63 support for Behind, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently beginning at 1708z through 1710z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 354 frames of SSR data. * On day 311 (Nov 6), the 46th momentum dump on Behind was executed successfully at 2100Z, which imparted a delta V of 0.080 m/sec. * The average daily SSR playback volume during the week was 5.2 gigabits for Ahead, and 5.4 gigabits for Behind. Week 46 (Nov 12-18) * A total solar eclipse will be visible from Australia later today. * Ahead has 14 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are 70 meter passes on Tuesday, Nov 13, and Saturday, Nov 17, both using station D14. The station 26 passes on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov 14-15, will both be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has 9 passes during the week, and overall coverage has a significant shortage of 16.3 hours over the course of the week. This is due to several stations going down for maintenance all at the same time. Station 43 will be down for six months. Station 54 will be down for about a month, and is expected to be back up on day 344 (Dec 9). The ESA New Norcia station will also be going down for maintenance. Coverage will be scant for the entire week, but will be particularly tight on Monday, Nov 12, and Thursday, Nov 15. 70 meter stations are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov 13 (D14), Thursday, Nov 15 (D63), Saturday, Nov 17 (D14), and Sunday, Nov 18 (D63). The station 24 pass on Monday, Nov 12, and the station 34 pass on Friday, Nov 17, will be carried out at 160 kbps. An ESA Cebreros pass is scheduled for Monday, Nov 12. Coverage shortfalls for Behind are expected to continue through the end of the year. Week 47 (Nov 19-25) * Thursday, Nov 22 is Thanksgiving. Both Thursday and Friday, Nov 22-23, are holidays at APL. * Ahead has 15 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. 70 meter passes are scheduled for Monday, Nov 19, Wednesday, Nov 21, and Thursday, Nov 22, all using station 14. * Behind has 11 passes during the week, and coverage is short 11.3 hours. This is an improvement over the previous 18.2 hour shortage. The shortage covers days 326-330 (Wednesday-Sunday, Nov 21-25). 70 meter passes are scheduled for Monday, Nov 19, Tuesday, Nov 20, and Saturday, Nov 24, all using station 63. The station 26 pass on Saturday, Nov 24, will be carried out at 160 kbps. Week 48 (Nov 26-Dec 2) * Behind reaches aphelion on day 337 (Dec 2). * Upgrades to the MOC DMZ are scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 28, from 23:00 to 02:00 UT. This will require restarting the relay streams. * Ahead has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are 70 meter passes on Monday, Nov 26 (D63), Tuesday, Nov 27 (D63), Thursday, Nov 29 (D14), and Saturday, Dec 1 (D63 at 720 kbps, D14). The station 26 pass on Wednesday, Nov 28, will be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has 10 passes during the week, and overall coverage is short 11.4 hours. This coverage mainly affects days 333-336 (Nov 28-Dec 1). There are 70 meter passes on Monday, Nov 26, Tuesday, Nov 27, Friday, Nov 30, and Sunday, Dec 2, all using station 63. An ESA Cebreros pass is scheduled for Saturday, Dec 1. Week 49 (Dec 3-9) * The 52nd momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Thursday, Dec 6, with ignition at 16:45 UT. * The 23rd SECCHI stepped calibration roll on Behind is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 4, starting at 08:15 UT. This is the aphelion roll. * The second annual battery discharge on Behind is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 4, starting at 13:00 UT, during the station 63 pass. * Additional upgrades to the MOC DMZ are scheduled for Wednesday, Dec 5, from 23:20 to 02:20 UT. * Ahead has 14 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are 70 meter passes on Thursday, Dec 6 (D14), and Saturday, Dec 8 (D63). The station 26 passes on Thursday, Dec 6, and Sunday, Dec 9, will both be carried out at 240 kbps. * Behind has 11 passes during the week, and overall coverage in nominal. There are 70 meter passes scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 4 (D63), Wednesday, Dec 5 (D63), Thursday, Dec 6 (D63), and Saturday, Dec 8 (D14 at 720 kbps). The station 45 pass on Friday, Dec 7, will be carried out at 160 kbps. Week 50 (Dec 10-16) * Ahead has 15 passes during the week, and overall coverage is short 12 hours, affecting the period from Tuesday to Sunday, Dec 11-16. No 70 meter stations are scheduled during the week. Station 26 passes on Monday, Dec 10, Thursday, Dec 13, and Saturday, Dec 15, will all be carried out at 240 kbps. ESA New Norcia passes are scheduled for Monday, Dec 10, Wednesday, Dec 12, Friday, Dec 14, and Saturday, Dec 15. * Behind has 11 passes during the week, and overall coverage is short 19.8 hours, affecting the period from Wednesday to Sunday, Dec 12-16. There are 70 meter passes on Monday, Dec 10 (D63), and Saturday, Dec 15 (D14). ESA New Norcia passes are scheduled for Monday, Dec 10, Wednesday, Dec 12, and Friday, Dec 14, and an ESA Cebreros pass is scheduled for Sunday, Dec 16. The station 26 pass on Thursday, Dec 14, and the station 45 pass on Sunday, Dec 16, will both be carried out at 160 kbps. Week 51 (Dec 17-23) * The 24th SECCHI stepped calibration roll on Ahead is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 18, starting at 10:15 UT. This is the midpoint roll. * The 47th momentum dump on Behind is scheduled for Thursday, Dec 20, starting at 21:00 UT. * Ahead has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is short 9.4 hours. There are 70 meter passes on Friday, Dec 21, and Sunday, Dec 23. The station 26 passes on Wednesday, Dec 19, and Saturday, Dec 22, will both be carried out at 240 kbps. An ESA New Norcia pass is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec 19. * Behind has 9 passes during the week, and overall coverage is short 11.5 hours, affecting the period from Tuesday to Thursday, Dec 18-20. There are 70 meter passes scheduled for Monday, Dec 17 (D14 at 720 kbps), Friday, Dec 21 (D63), and Saturday, Dec 22 (D14). The station 26 pass on Thursday, Dec 20, will be carried out at 160 kbps. An ESA Cebreros pass is scheduled for Thursday, Dec 20. Other * IMPACT has lowered their telemetry rate on Behind. From the telemetry files, this appears to be about a 15% reduction. * SWAVES is still testing their script to lower the telemetry rate on Behind. * It's not clear yet whether the telemetry shortfalls for Ahead in weeks 50 and 51 will continue in the following weeks. Significant shortfalls for Ahead are expected next year. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 46: M Nov 12 (317) Veterans Day T Nov 13 (318) Total solar eclipse, South Pacific W Nov 14 (319) T Nov 15 (320) F Nov 16 (321) S Nov 17 (322) S Nov 18 (323) Notes: * Significant telemetry shortfalls for Behind are expected during the week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 47: M Nov 19 (324) T Nov 20 (325) W Nov 21 (326) T Nov 22 (327) Thanksgiving F Nov 23 (328) S Nov 24 (329) S Nov 25 (330) Notes: * Significant telemetry shortfalls for Behind are expected during the week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 48: M Nov 26 (331) T Nov 27 (332) W Nov 28 (333) T Nov 29 (334) F Nov 30 (335) S Dec 01 (336) S Dec 02 (337) Notes: * Significant telemetry shortfalls for Behind are expected during the week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 49: M Dec 03 (338) T Dec 04 (339) Behind: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 08:15 UT W Dec 05 (340) T Dec 06 (341) Ahead: Momentum dump, 16:45 UT F Dec 07 (342) S Dec 08 (343) S Dec 09 (344) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 50: M Dec 10 (345) T Dec 11 (346) W Dec 12 (347) T Dec 13 (348) F Dec 14 (349) S Dec 15 (350) S Dec 16 (351) Notes: * Significant telemetry shortfalls for both spacecraft are expected during the week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 51: M Dec 17 (352) T Dec 18 (353) Ahead: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 10:15 UT W Dec 19 (354) T Dec 20 (355) Behind: Momentum dump, 21:00 UT F Dec 21 (356) S Dec 22 (357) S Dec 23 (358) Notes: * Significant telemetry shortfalls for both spacecraft are expected during the week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: 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 * Jul 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