STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2022-09-20 (Week 38) 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 37 (Sep 12-18) * On day 255 (Sept 12), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, the link operator inadvertently turned off the incorrect transmitter (i.e. intended to turn off a transmitter for a different mission) at 1855z. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 20 minutes of real-time commanding, 2-way tracking, and the loss of 2838 frames of SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the subsequent DSS-55 track and recovered all the affected data. See DR #G123036 for more information. * On day 256 (Sept 13), during the DSS-55 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently between 1600z and 1627z, due to weather. Also, the transmitter failed at 1621z. These anomalies resulted in the loss of three hours of real-time commanding, 2-way tracking, and the loss of 6443 frames of SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the subsequent DSS-25 track and recovered all the affected data. See DR #M114882 for more information. * On day 258 (Sept 15), during the DSS-35 support for Ahead, the MOC commanding was delayed by 30 minutes, due to a problem binding to the SLE command server at the station. The MOC bound to the server successfully at 0742z, once the issue self-corrected. See DR #C116752 for more information. * On day 258 (Sept 15), during the DSS-53 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently between 2012z and 2013z, due to weather. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 931 frames of SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the subsequent DSS-35 track and recovered all the affected data. See DR #M114907 for more information. * As of day 261 (Sept 18), all PLASTIC systems 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 5.5 Gbits during this week. Week 38 (Sep 19-25) * Ahead has eight tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 39 (Sep 26-Oct 2) * Numerous track changes have been made to the planned Artemis launch on Tuesday, Sep 27. Ahead now has 14 tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. ESA tracks have been added on Wednesday, Sep 28 (Malague), Saturday, Oct 1 (New Norcia), and Sunday, Oct 2 (Cebreros). * The 150th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Tuesday, Sep 27, with ignition at 16:00 UT. The time was changed because of the changed DSN schedule. Week 40 (Oct 3-9) * Additional adjustments due to the planned Artemis launch were made to the tracks for this week. Ahead now has thirteen tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. The schedule could be affected if the launch date slips. Week 41 (Oct 10-16) * Ahead has ten tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 42 (Oct 17-23) * Ahead has ten tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. Week 43 (Oct 24-30) * Ahead has eleven tracks during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * An IMU2 EEPROM refresh is scheduled on Ahead on Monday, Oct 24, at 16:30 UT. The IMU will be turned on, and a short sample of data will be collected, but the spacecraft will not be using the IMU for attitude determination. COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 38: M Sep 19 (262) T Sep 20 (263) Ahead: SECCHI HI-2 Betelgeuse observations, 20-22 UT W Sep 21 (264) T Sep 22 (265) F Sep 23 (266) S Sep 24 (267) S Sep 25 (268) Notes: * Betelgeuse in HI-2 field-of-view, Aug 9-Sep 29. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 39: M Sep 26 (269) T Sep 27 (270) Ahead: SECCHI HI-2 Betelgeuse observations, 12-14 UT Ahead: Momentum dump, 16:00 UT W Sep 28 (271) T Sep 29 (272) F Sep 30 (273) S Oct 01 (274) S Oct 02 (275) Notes: * Betelgeuse in HI-2 field-of-view, Aug 9-Sep 29. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 40: M Oct 03 (276) T Oct 04 (277) W Oct 05 (278) T Oct 06 (279) F Oct 07 (280) S Oct 08 (281) S Oct 09 (282) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 41: M Oct 10 (283) T Oct 11 (284) W Oct 12 (285) T Oct 13 (286) F Oct 14 (287) S Oct 15 (288) S Oct 16 (289) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 42: M Oct 17 (290) T Oct 18 (291) W Oct 19 (292) T Oct 20 (293) F Oct 21 (294) S Oct 22 (295) S Oct 23 (296) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 43: M Oct 24 (297) Ahead: IMU2 EEPROM refresh, 16:30 UT T Oct 25 (298) W Oct 26 (299) T Oct 27 (300) F Oct 28 (301) S Oct 29 (302) S Oct 30 (303) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft. 2022: * 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