STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2019-02-19 (Week 8) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None 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 8 (Feb 18-24) * On day 050 (Feb 19), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, the uplink was delayed by 15 minutes due to the transmitter needing to be recalibrated. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 15 minutes of commanding and a small data gap due to the late uplink sweep. Once the uplink was established, MOPs repositioned the SSR pointers and all affected data were recovered. See DR# G119813 for more information. * On day 054 (Feb 23), during the DSS-34 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 0614z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of three frames of SSR data. * On day 054 (Feb 23), during the DSS-25 support for Ahead, the antenna was declared red due to a mechanical issue. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 210 minutes of telemetry, command and tracking data. On the subsequent DSS-14 support, MOPs repositioned SSR pointers and all affected DSS-25 data were recovered. See DR# G119837 for more information. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 5.9 Gbits during this week. Week 9 (Feb 25-Mar 3) * A two hour DSN test track with DTF 21 is scheduled for tomorrow (Feb 27) between 9-12 PST (17-20 UTC), to test SLE version 4 POC commanding. * Ahead has ten passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 10 (Mar 4-10) * Monday March 4th, day 063, at 19:30 UT, the 117th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled. This is the 36th momentum dump without using the gyros. * Sunday, March 10, Daylight Saving Time begins in the U.S. * Ahead has eleven passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are nine passes at 720 kbps, one at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 11 (Mar 11-17) * A redo of the SECCHI stepped calibration roll has been added on March 15, starting at 11:35 AM. The COR1 telescope has seen two new particles land on the objective lens recently, one on Feb 5 and another on Feb 17, caused by micrometeor hits on the spacecraft creating sprays of debris. Since the recent calibration roll was in between these two events, it cannot be used to characterize the instrumental background before Feb 5 or after Feb 17. * Ahead has ten passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 12 (Mar 18-24) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 13 (Mar 25-31) * Sunday, Mar 31, marks the beginning of the second SECCHI observing campaign for Parker Solar Probe. This campaign goes through day 100 (Apr 10). * Ahead has ten passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are nine passes at 720 kbps, and one pass at 240 kbps. Week 14 (Apr 1-7) * Ahead has nine passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Other * There was some discussion about exactly when the 34 meter stations all transfer to 240 kbps downlink rate. There are a small number of stations that still require the 160 kbps rate at low azimuths. This situation continues to be monitored. * The transition to SLE version 4 was discussed. The latest thought is that STEREO still needs some more testing, and will transition sometime in April. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 09: M Feb 25 (056) T Feb 26 (057) W Feb 27 (058) T Feb 28 (059) F Mar 01 (060) S Mar 02 (061) S Mar 03 (062) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 10: M Mar 04 (063) Ahead: Momentum dump, 19:30 UT T Mar 05 (064) W Mar 06 (065) T Mar 07 (066) F Mar 08 (067) S Mar 09 (068) S Mar 10 (069) Daylight Savings Time begins ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 11: M Mar 11 (070) T Mar 12 (071) W Mar 13 (072) T Mar 14 (073) F Mar 15 (074) Ahead: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 11:35 UT S Mar 16 (075) S Mar 17 (076) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 12: M Mar 18 (077) T Mar 19 (078) W Mar 20 (079) T Mar 21 (080) F Mar 22 (081) S Mar 23 (082) S Mar 24 (083) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 13: M Mar 25 (084) T Mar 26 (085) W Mar 27 (086) T Mar 28 (087) F Mar 29 (088) S Mar 30 (089) S Mar 31 (090) Ahead: Begin SECCHI observations for Parker Solar Probe Notes: * Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass, Mar 31-Apr 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 14: M Apr 01 (091) T Apr 02 (092) W Apr 03 (093) T Apr 04 (094) F Apr 05 (095) S Apr 06 (096) S Apr 07 (097) Notes: * Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass, Mar 31-Apr 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2019: * Mar 31-Apr 10 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * 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, in HI2-A field-of-view * 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, 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