STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2019-03-26 (Week 13) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * The SSC reports that all ftp servers at NASA will have to be shut down by July 31. Instrument teams that get their data via ftp from the stereoftp server will have to change their scripts to get the data from https://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov. A new procedure for updating SolarSoft is still under development. The possibility of modifying the commonly used Perl mirror script to use ftps instead of ftp was found to be not feasible. The sftp protocol is still allowed by NASA, but this requires each user to have an account. It should also be possible to set up an ftps server, and the SSC would like to know whether anyone has a desire to use this protocol. 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 12 (Mar 18-24) * On day 077 (Mar 18), during the DSS-43 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently from 0322z thru 0327z due to heavy rain. On the subsequent DSS-63 support, SSR pointers were repositioned and all SSR data were recovered. See DR #C114034 for more information. * On day 078 (Mar 19), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly 1011z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 17 frames of SSR data. On the subsequent DSS-14 support, SSR pointers were repositioned and all SSR data were recovered. * On day 078 (Mar 19), a short test track with the DSN test station, DTF-21, was conducted to test the command binding of the new command workstation in the MOC using CCSDS SLE bluebook version 4. Both command and telemetry binds were successful and two no-op commands were sent. * On day 079 (Mar 20), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, in parallel with the operational track, a DSN PIT was conducted using the backup command workstation to test the DSN's TTC software v1.6. The backup workstation was connected to the test SLE server at the DSN. Real-time telemetry and monitor data were identical between the SLE test server and the operational server. * On day 080 (Mar 21), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, the 2nd instrument real-time command and telemetry test with the Ahead observatory using the new MOC command and control workstation, software, and CCSDS SLE bluebook version 4 software update was conducted. The IMPACT SEP and IDPU teams and SECCHI successfully received telemetry. The command bind to DSS-63 was successful. All POCs sent commands successfully from the new command workstation in the MOC. Both IMPACT teams and SECCHI verified in realtime telemetry that the commands executed as expected. However, PLASTIC could not verify their commands in realtime due to a configuration issue. Post-test, both PLASTIC and SWAVES verified that the commands sent were received successfully. * On day 082 (Mar 22), the Ahead telemetry server (vernon) went offline at 0737z due to a hard disk issue. The disk issue was resolved and the Ahead telemetry server was back on-line at 083-2319z (Mar 23). This anomaly resulted in the loss of real-time telemetry to the instrument teams and SSC for a total of 5.75 hours during the day 082 DSS-14 and day 083 DSS-43 supports. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 6.3 Gbits during this week. 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 eleven passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are ten passes at 720 kbps, and one pass at 240 kbps. Week 14 (Apr 1-7) * The SECCHI observing campaign for Parker Solar Probe perihelion continues throughout the week. This will include a COR2 deep exposure campaign, Apr 1-4. * Ahead has nine passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 15 (Apr 8-14) * The SECCHI observing campaign for Parker Solar Probe perihelion ends on Wednesday, Apr 10. * The 118th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Thursday, April 11, with ignition starting at 14:00 UT. This will be the 37th momentum dump without using the gyros. * Ahead has ten passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, one at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 16 (Apr 15-21) * Ahead has ten passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are nine passes at 720 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 17 (Apr 22-28) * Ahead has ten passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are nine passes at 720 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. Week 18 (Apr 29-May 5) * Ahead reaches perihelion on May 4. Events associated with perihelion, a SECCHI stepped calibration roll and a battery discharge maintenance event, are in the process of being scheduled. * Ahead has nine passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, and one at 240 kbps. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) Ahead: SECCHI/COR2 deep exposure campaign T Apr 02 (092) Ahead: SECCHI/COR2 deep exposure campaign W Apr 03 (093) Ahead: SECCHI/COR2 deep exposure campaign T Apr 04 (094) Ahead: SECCHI/COR2 deep exposure campaign F Apr 05 (095) S Apr 06 (096) S Apr 07 (097) Notes: * Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass, Mar 31-Apr 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 15: M Apr 08 (098) T Apr 09 (099) W Apr 10 (100) Ahead: End SECCHI observations for Parker Solar Probe T Apr 11 (101) Ahead: Momentum dump, 14:00 UT F Apr 12 (102) S Apr 13 (103) S Apr 14 (104) Notes: * Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass, Mar 31-Apr 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 16: M Apr 15 (105) T Apr 16 (106) W Apr 17 (107) T Apr 18 (108) F Apr 19 (109) S Apr 20 (110) S Apr 21 (111) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 17: M Apr 22 (112) T Apr 23 (113) W Apr 24 (114) T Apr 25 (115) F Apr 26 (116) S Apr 27 (117) S Apr 28 (118) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 18: M Apr 29 (119) T Apr 30 (120) W May 01 (121) T May 02 (122) F May 03 (123) S May 04 (124) Ahead: Perihelion S May 05 (125) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2019: * 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