STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2022-04-12 (Week 15) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * Ahead is operating nominally. PLASTIC is in operational mode, but with a moderately higher than normal 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 14 (Apr 4-10) * On day 098 (Apr 8), during the DSS-53 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 1759z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 39 frames of SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the track and recovered all the affected data. * On day 100 (Apr 10), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, the antenna was unable to lock telemetry when transitioning to 2-Way mode at 1630z, due to very large elevation tracking errors. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 30 minutes of real-time telemetry, command, tracking, and SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the track and recovered all the affected data. See DR #M114473 for more information. This appears to be due to an ongoing issue with station 63. * As of day 100 (Apr 10), all PLASTIC systems on Ahead are behaving well, except there is a moderate background count rate, which the team is continuing to monitor. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 6.3 Gbits during this week. Week 15 (Apr 11-17) * Ahead has eleven tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * The 3 hour station 14 pass last night (Apr 11) was lost due to the need to stow the antenna because of high winds at the Goldstone site. The MOC will attempt to move the pointers during the station 63 pass at 18:00 UT to avoid data loss. Week 16 (Apr 18-24) * Ahead has eleven tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 17 (Apr 25-May 1) * Ahead has eleven tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * Comet PANSTARRS will pass through the COR2-A field-of-view on Apr 27-30, days 117-120. Week 18 (May 2-8) * Ahead has twelve tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * The 146th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Monday, May 2, with ignition at 18:30 UT. Week 19 (May 9-15) * Ahead has twelve tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * The asteroid 3200/Phaeton will pass through the SECCHI HI1-A field-of-view between May 15-17. The SECCHI team plans to take full resolution images for this event. Week 20 (May 16-22) * Ahead has eleven tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * The 62nd SECCHI stepped calibration roll for the midpoint in the orbit is scheduled for Thursday, May 19, starting at 10:15 UT Other * A meeting was held at APL to discuss the possibility of adjusting Ahead's orbit during its flyby of Earth. The first phase, consisting of long computer runs, should wrap up by mid May, after which the results will be discussed before deciding to proceed any further. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 15: M Apr 11 (101) T Apr 12 (102) W Apr 13 (103) T Apr 14 (104) F Apr 15 (105) S Apr 16 (106) S Apr 17 (107) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 16: M Apr 18 (108) T Apr 19 (109) W Apr 20 (110) T Apr 21 (111) F Apr 22 (112) S Apr 23 (113) S Apr 24 (114) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 17: M Apr 25 (115) T Apr 26 (116) W Apr 27 (117) T Apr 28 (118) F Apr 29 (119) S Apr 30 (120) S May 01 (121) Notes: * Comet PANSTARRS in COR2-A field-of-view, Apr 27-30. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 18: M May 02 (122) Ahead: Momentum dump, 18:30 UT T May 03 (123) W May 04 (124) T May 05 (125) F May 06 (126) S May 07 (127) S May 08 (128) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 19: M May 09 (129) T May 10 (130) W May 11 (131) T May 12 (132) F May 13 (133) S May 14 (134) S May 15 (135) Notes: * 3200/Phaethon in HI1-A field-of-view, May 15-17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 20: M May 16 (136) T May 17 (137) W May 18 (138) T May 19 (139) Ahead: Stepped calibration roll, 10:15 UT F May 20 (140) S May 21 (141) S May 22 (142) Notes: * 3200/Phaethon in HI1-A field-of-view, May 15-17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2022: * May 28-Jun 7 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Sep 2-11 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Sep 4 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby * Dec 7-16 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2023: * Jan 3 Solar Orbiter Mercury transit * Mar 13-23 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Apr 16 Solar Orbiter Venus occultation * May 5 Behind: Mercury transit * Jun 17-27 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Jun 27 Solar Orbiter Mercury transit * 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: * Feb 18 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby * Mar 19-27 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Apr 7 Ahead: Mercury transit * Jun 15-24 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 2026: * Dec 24 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby 2027: * Feb 1 Behind: Mercury transit 2028: * Mar 18 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby 2029: * Jun 10 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby * Jun 30 Ahead: Mercury transit 2030: * Sep 3 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby