STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2020-10-13 (Week 42) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * Ahead is operating nominally. PLASTIC is in operational mode, but with a high 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 41 (Oct 5-11) * On day 279 (Oct 5), the 55th SECCHI stepped calibration roll was executed at 0745z for perihelion in the Ahead orbit. This was the 24th SECCHI stepped calibration roll conducted without gyro use. * As of day 285 (Oct 11), 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 6.5 Gbits during this week. Week 42 (Oct 12-18) * Ahead has eleven passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, two at 480 kbps, three at 360 kbps, and one at 160 kbps. * An ESA Cebreros pass is scheduled for Monday, Oct 12, 16:25-19:25. * A project interfact test with the new Madrid 34 meter station 56 is scheduled for Friday, Oct 16. There will be no instrument commanding or SSR playback during this pass. Week 43 (Oct 19-25) * Ahead has ten passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, two at 480 kbps, and three at 360 kbps. * SECCHI will make observations of the star Betelgeuse during the last two weeks of October. These observations have been scheduled for two Mondays, Oct 19,26. The times are still TBD. The same observing program as in the summer shall be used, but without rolling the spacecraft. 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. Week 44 (Oct 26-Nov 1) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are five passes at 720 kbps, four at 480 kbps, two at 360 kbps, and one at 160 kbps. * SECCHI will observe the star Betelgeuse on Monday, Oct 26, without rolling the spacecraft. * The 132nd momentum dump is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct 27, with ignition at 15:00 UT. * The STEREO Annual Spacecraft Assessment review is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct 28, starting at 8:30. This will be an online review. * An ESA Malague pass is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct 28, and an ESA Cebreros pass is scheduled for Thursday, Oct 29. * Daylight savings time in the US ends on Sunday, Nov 1. Week 45 (Nov 2-8) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, four at 480 kbps, and two and 360 kbps. * ESA New Norcia passes are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Nov 7,8 Week 46 (Nov 9-15) * Ahead has eight passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, and two at 480 kbps. * Wednesday, Nov 11, is Veteran's Day, which is a holiday at APL. Week 47 (Nov 16-22) * Ahead has twelve passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There are six passes at 720 kbps, four at 480 kbps, and two at 360 kbps. * Solar Orbiter will have a remote sensing observing window while in conjunction with STEREO Ahead, Nov 16-22. * An ESA Malague pass is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 18. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 41: M Oct 05 (279) Ahead: Stepped calibration roll, 07:45 UT T Oct 06 (280) W Oct 07 (281) T Oct 08 (282) F Oct 09 (283) S Oct 10 (284) S Oct 11 (285) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 42: M Oct 12 (286) T Oct 13 (287) W Oct 14 (288) T Oct 15 (289) F Oct 16 (290) Ahead: Project Interface Test with station 56 S Oct 17 (291) S Oct 18 (292) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 43: M Oct 19 (293) Ahead: SECCHI observations of Betelgeuse T Oct 20 (294) W Oct 21 (295) T Oct 22 (296) F Oct 23 (297) S Oct 24 (298) S Oct 25 (299) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 44: M Oct 26 (300) Ahead: SECCHI observations of Betelgeuse T Oct 27 (301) Ahead: Momentum dump, 15:00 UT W Oct 28 (302) T Oct 29 (303) F Oct 30 (304) S Oct 31 (305) S Nov 01 (306) Daylight savings time ends in US. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 45: M Nov 02 (307) T Nov 03 (308) W Nov 04 (309) T Nov 05 (310) F Nov 06 (311) S Nov 07 (312) S Nov 08 (313) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 46: M Nov 09 (314) T Nov 10 (315) W Nov 11 (316) Veteran's Day T Nov 12 (317) F Nov 13 (318) S Nov 14 (319) S Nov 15 (320) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2020: * Sep 16-Nov 18 Betelgeuse visible in SECCHI HI2 without roll * Nov 16-21 Solar Orbiter conjunction (remote sensors on) 2021: * Jan 13-23 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Feb 1-19 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensor Synoptics * Feb 20 Parker Solar Probe Venus flyby * Feb 20-25 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensor Checkout Window 2 * Mar 21-24 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensor Checkout Window 3 * Apr 21-28 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensor Synoptics * 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