STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2020-08-04 (Week 32) 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 31 (Jul 27-Aug 2) * On day 210 (Jul 28), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 2221z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of one frame of SSR data. * On day 213 (Jul 31), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, the transmitter was unable to support uplink activities due to an issue with the Microwave Control Assembly. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 3.2 hours of real-time commanding and 2-way tracking data. See DR #G121256 for more information. * On day 209 (Jul 27), the SECCHI 180 degree roll was executed successfully on Ahead at 0800z for the Fourth Betelgeuse star observation. * As of day 215 (Aug 2), all PLASTIC systems on Ahead 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 6.6 Gbits during this week. Week 32 (Aug 3-9) * Ahead has sixteen passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are eight passes at 720 kbps, two at 480 kbps, and six at 360 kbps. The station 14 pass on Sunday, Aug 9, was shortened, and a station 54 pass just before that was added to assist another mission. * An additional 180 degree roll to observe Betelgeuse was carried out yesterday, Aug 3, between 16-18 UT, upon request from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. This was the final roll, as Betelgeuse will no longer be observable after Aug 5. * An ESA New Norcia pass is scheduled for Thursday, Aug 6, 08:30-12:30. * Maintenance on the main archive RAID at the MOC is scheduled for Thursday, Aug 6. The archive will be rebooted at 15:00 UT. * A test of the three links per operator link test is scheduled for Friday, Aug 7, using station 14. There will be no instrument commanding or SSR downlink during this pass. Week 33 (Aug 10-16) * Ahead has thirteen passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are ten passes at 720 kbps, one at 480 kbps, and two at 360 kbps. * The 130th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug 11, with ignition at 21:00 UT. * Network maintenance on the restricted IONet is scheduled for 12:30 Thursday, Aug 13. The subsequent station 63 track will be manned. 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. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 32: M Aug 03 (216) Ahead: 180 degree roll for observation of Betelgeuse, 16-18 UT T Aug 04 (217) W Aug 05 (218) T Aug 06 (219) F Aug 07 (220) Ahead: 3 links/operator link test with station 14 S Aug 08 (221) S Aug 09 (222) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 33: M Aug 10 (223) T Aug 11 (224) Ahead: Momentum dump, 21:00 UT W Aug 12 (225) T Aug 13 (226) F Aug 14 (227) S Aug 15 (228) S Aug 16 (229) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2020: * 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 * 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