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Robotic Spacecraft (Astronomy, Planetary, Earth, Solar/Heliophysics) => Space Science Coverage => Topic started by: Jim on 05/05/2006 02:49 pm

Title: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 05/05/2006 02:49 pm
If you are bored, you can watch the Stereo spacecraft processing

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/rrg2.pl?encoder/aevideo4.rm

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 05/26/2006 08:18 pm
We'll make this the STEREO update thread.

STATUS REPORT: E06-016

NASA EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT: E06-016

Mission: Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: July 22, 2006
Launch Times: 3:11 - 3:13 p.m. and 4:19 - 4:34 p.m. EDT

Technicians are testing individual STEREO systems on both the "A" and
"B" spacecraft. Workers cleaned the black light on spacecraft "A,"
completed vertical alignments, and installed the solar array
ordnance. They also attached the high gain antenna to the
spacecraft's rotation fixture, and closed out blankets. Technicians
installed the batteries on the "A" and "B" spacecraft last week. In
addition to testing, upcoming work for spacecraft "B" includes solar
array installation and integration of the high-gain communications
antenna in mid-June.

The build-up of the Delta II rocket at Pad 17-B is scheduled to begin
on June 1 with the first stage. Pad workers will start to erect the
nine solid rocket boosters on June 2. The second stage will be
hoisted into position and mated to the first stage on June 20. The
crew will raise the 10-foot fairing into the pad clean room on June
21.

STEREO will build a three-dimensional, global picture of the sun and
study the star's influence on Earth. For more information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 06/09/2006 03:17 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-060906

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: July 22, 2006
Launch Times: 3:11 - 3:13 p.m. and 4:19 - 4:34 p.m. EDT

Testing and prelaunch processing of STEREO continue on schedule. Deep
Space Network spacecraft compatibility testing is under way. Launch
and mission simulation exercises are also being performed. Upcoming
next week is further thermal blanket installation and preparations
for attaching the solar arrays. STEREO is scheduled to be transported
to Launch Complex 17 on July 11 to be mated to the Boeing Delta II
rocket.

The first stage of the Delta II rocket at Pad 17-B was erected on June
2. The first of three sets of three solid rocket boosters were
attached on June 5. At this time, the Delta II second stage is
scheduled to be hoisted into position and mated to the first stage on
June 20. The crew will raise the 10-foot fairing into the pad clean
room on June 21.

For information about the STEREO mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 06/16/2006 07:24 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-061606

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: July 22, 2006
Launch Times: 3:11 - 3:13 p.m. or 4:19 - 4:34 p.m. EDT

At the Astrotech Space Operations Facility, testing and prelaunch
processing of STEREO continues. Communications testing with the Deep
Space Network continues. On observatory "A" on Wednesday, the
Heliospheric Imager vertical instrument door was successfully
deployed during testing. On observatory "B," the scientific
instruments were aligned and tested. Comprehensive performance
testing of both observatories continues to go well. STEREO is planned
to be transported to Launch Complex 17 on July 11 to be mated to the
Boeing Delta II rocket.

The first stage of the Delta II rocket at Pad 17-B was erected on June
2. The first of three sets of three solid rocket boosters was
attached on June 5. A fourth solid rocket booster is set to be
attached on Saturday. Following this, no further work on the launch
vehicle is scheduled until after a U.S. Air Force launch next week on
adjacent Pad 17-A.

For information about the STEREO mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

For previous expendable launch vehicle processing status reports,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2006
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: eeergo on 06/27/2006 03:07 pm
Stereo has been delayed to NET July 30 (info published in both http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html (next rocket launch) and http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html )
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/17/2006 08:06 pm
07.17.06

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

STATUS REPORT: ELV-071706

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Aug. 20, 2006
Launch Time: 3:52 - 4:07 p.m. EDT

At the Astrotech Space Operations Facility, STEREO was moved to the
hazardous processing facility early last week for fueling, stacking
and spin-testing of the two observatories. During fueling of
Observatory A, one of the valves used to load the spacecraft with
hydrazine propellant was observed to be leaking from a secondary
seal. Technicians suspended the fueling and made adjustments to the
fuel line connection. Fueling operations resumed with no further
leakage. Both observatories are now completely fueled. However, as a
precaution, the two observatories have not been pressurized while
this problem is investigated. An anomaly team is working to fully
determine the reason for the problem and assess the integrity of the
valve.

For this reason, launch has been rescheduled for the opening of the
next launch window, no earlier than Aug. 20.

At Pad 17-B, the Delta II second stage was stacked atop the first
stage on July 13. The following day, the payload fairing was hoisted
into the pad cleanroom located at the upper levels of the mobile
service tower. Technicians are now performing standard prelaunch
electrical interface testing of the two stages and checking the
guidance system.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/25/2006 05:02 pm
07.24.06

STATUS REPORT: ELV-072406

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Aug. 20, 2006
Launch Time: 3:52 - 4:07 p.m. EDT

At the Astrotech Space Operations Facility, work to prepare STEREO for
launch resumed today with the pressurization of the hydrazine tanks
on each of the two observatories. This will be followed by
preparations to stack the spacecraft. Stacking is currently planned
for Friday, July 28. Three days of spin-testing will follow beginning
Sunday, July 30. The final major processing activity prior to launch
occurs next week with the mating of STEREO to the upper stage
booster.

At Pad 17-B, standard liquid oxygen leak checks of the Delta II first
stage are under way today. The second stage will undergo a helium
leak check on Wednesday.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/28/2006 08:37 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-072806

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Aug. 31, 2006
Launch Time: 3:12:24 or 4:20:28 p.m. EDT

The launch of STEREO aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket has been
postponed to no earlier than Aug. 31. At the Boeing plant in Decatur,
Ala., a leak has been observed in the second-stage oxidizer tank for
the Delta II that had been scheduled to launch NASA's THEMIS
spacecraft in November. Therefore, all identical tanks scheduled for
launch in the near future must be checked.

Boeing engineers and technicians found that the second stage for the
Delta II that will launch STEREO cannot be effectively tested while
atop the first stage at Pad 17-B. It will be de-stacked and taken to
the High Pressure Test Facility located near Launch Complex 17 for
further leak checks. De-stacking will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The
stage will be returned to the pad in about a week if no problems are
found.

Due to the change in the launch date, a decision has been made not to
stack the two STEREO observatories earlier than Aug. 9.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/04/2006 09:49 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-080406

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Aug. 31, 2006
Launch Time: 3:12:24 or 4:20:28 p.m. EDT

At Launch Complex 17, the second stage of the Boeing Delta II was
de-stacked on Tuesday and taken to the nearby High-Pressure Test
Facility. The planned precautionary leak test has been completed. No
leak was observed. The second stage will be returned to the launch
pad on Saturday and mated again with the Delta first stage.

In the Hazardous Processing Facility clean room, the two STEREO
observatories are scheduled to be stacked on Aug. 9 in preparation
for spin test activities. These are planned to begin on Aug. 11. The
integrated STEREO payload will then be mated to the upper stage
booster on Aug. 16 and transported to Pad 17-B on Aug. 19 for
integration with the Delta II.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/07/2006 07:19 pm
08.07.06

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

Rachel Weintraub
Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.
301-286-0918

Kristi Marren
Applied Physics Laboratory, Md.
240-228-6268

MEDIA ADVISORY: 49-06

NASA OFFERS MEDIA ACCESS TO STEREO SPACECRAFT AUG. 11

NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), set to launch
aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket on Aug. 31, will be the focus of a
media opportunity at 1 p.m. Friday at Astrotech in Titusville, Fla.
The event will include an opportunity to photograph STEREO and
interview project and launch program officials.

STEREO consists of two spacecraft that together comprise the first
mission to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-D. This
new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its
impact on the Earth.

During the two-year mission, the two nearly identical spacecraft will
explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of
coronal mass ejections, the most violent explosions in our solar
system. When directed at Earth, these billion-ton eruptions can
disrupt satellites, radio communications and power systems. In
addition, energetic particles associated with these solar eruptions
are hazardous to scientific spacecraft and astronauts.

Truly an international effort, many portions of the STEREO instruments
were provided by the United States, the United Kingdom and several
European countries. The instruments were integrated with the
observatories by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory in Laurel, Md. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for the project management. The NASA
Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center and Boeing are
responsible for the launch.

For the media event, procedures for optically sensitive spacecraft
must be followed by individuals entering the cleanroom where the
spacecraft is being prepared for launch. Full cleanroom attire (bunny
suits) must be worn and will be furnished. Please do not wear
perfume, cologne or makeup. Long pants and closed-toe shoes must be
worn -- no shorts or skirts.

Camera equipment will be cleaned by contamination-control specialists.
All camera equipment must be self-contained; no portable lights can
be allowed. Nonessential equipment such as suede, leather or vinyl
camera bags or other carrying cases must be left outside the
cleanroom. No pencils or felt-tipped pens are permitted; only ball
point pens may be used. No food, tobacco, chewing gum, lighters,
matches or pocketknives will be allowed.

Wireless microphones are allowed; however, flash photography cannot be
permitted. There is adequate metal halide lighting in the facility
for photography (white with slight green cast; suggested exposure for
ISO-ASA 400 is 1/30 sec. at f/5.6).

Primary spokespersons available will be:



Jim Adams, STEREO Deputy Project Manager, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center


Rex Engelhardt, NASA Mission Integration Manager
Kennedy Space Center


Mark Jarosz, STEREO Observatory Manager, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center


Ron Denissen, STEREO Deputy Project Manager
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory


On Friday, media may proceed directly to Astrotech located in the
Spaceport Florida Industrial Park, 1515 Chaffee Drive, Titusville.
Access at the gate will start at 12:45 p.m.

-end-
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/15/2006 06:19 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-081406

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Aug. 31, 2006
Launch Time: 3:12:24 - 3:14:24 or 4:20:28 - 4:35:28 p.m. EDT

At Launch Complex 17, the launch team is performing the Delta II
Flight Simulation today. This is an electrical and mechanical test of
the rocket that activates the first and second stage onboard systems,
taking them through the programmed flight events as they will occur
during launch.

In the Hazardous Processing Facility clean room, STEREO spin-test
activities were successfully completed on Saturday. Thermal blanket
closeouts and final spacecraft cleaning are under way. The STEREO
payload is scheduled for mating to the upper stage booster on
Wednesday. It will be transported to Pad 17-B on Friday for
integration with the Delta II.

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/17/2006 07:46 pm
Aug. 17, 2006

Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1237/1726

Rachel Weintraub
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0918

RELEASE: 06-294

NASA SATELLITES WILL IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUN

NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission will
dramatically improve understanding of the powerful solar eruptions
that can send more than a billion tons of the sun's outer atmosphere
hurtling into space.

The STEREO mission comprises two nearly identical spacecraft the size
of golf carts, which are scheduled to launch on Aug. 31 aboard a
Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Their
observations will enable scientists to construct the first-ever
three-dimensional views of the sun. These images will show the sun's
stormy environment and its effect on the inner solar system. The data
are vital for understanding how the sun creates space weather.

During the two-year mission, the two spacecraft will explore the
origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of coronal mass
ejections, some of the most violent explosions in our solar system.
When directed at Earth, these billion-ton eruptions can produce
spectacular aurora and disrupt satellites, radio communications and
power systems. Energetic particles associated with these solar
eruptions permeate the entire solar system and may be hazardous to
spacecraft and astronauts.

"In terms of space-weather forecasting, we're where weather
forecasters were in the 1950s," said Michael Kaiser, STEREO project
scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
"They didn't see hurricanes until the rain clouds were right above
them. In our case, we can see storms leaving the sun, but we have to
make guesses and use models to figure out if and when they will
impact Earth."

To obtain their unique stereo view of the sun, the two observatories
must be placed in different orbits, where they are offset from each
other and Earth. Spacecraft "A" will be in an orbit moving ahead of
Earth, and "B" will lag behind, as the planet orbits the sun.

Just as the slight offset between eyes provides depth perception, this
placement will allow the STEREO observatories to obtain 3-D images of
the sun. The arrangement also allows the spacecraft to take local
particle and magnetic field measurements of the solar wind as it
flows by the spacecraft.

STEREO is the first NASA mission to use separate lunar swingbys to
place two observatories into vastly different orbits around the sun.
The observatories will fly in an orbit from a point close to Earth to
one that extends just beyond the moon.

Approximately two months after launch, mission operations personnel at
the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.,
will use a close flyby of the moon to modify the orbits. The moon's
gravity will be used to direct one observatory to its position
trailing Earth. Approximately one month later, the second observatory
will be redirected after another lunar swingby to its position ahead
of Earth. These maneuvers will enable the spacecraft to take
permanent orbits around the sun.

Each STEREO observatory has 16 instruments. The observatories have
imaging telescopes and equipment to measure solar wind particles and
to perform radio astronomy.

"STEREO is charting new territory for science research and the
building of spacecraft. The simultaneous assembly, integration and
launch of nearly identical observatories have been an extraordinary
challenge," said Nick Chrissotimos, STEREO project manager at
Goddard.

The STEREO mission is managed by Goddard. The Applied Physics
Laboratory designed and built the spacecraft. The laboratory will
maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the
mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the
orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results.

For more information about STEREO, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home


-end-
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/18/2006 09:59 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-081806

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Aug. 31, 2006
Launch Time: 3:12:24 - 3:14:24 and 4:20:28 - 4:35:28 p.m. EDT

After leak checks of the Delta II first stage, engineers decided to
remove and replace the liquid oxygen fill and drain valve at Launch
Complex 17. That work is being completed today without impact to the
launch date. Also, preparations are under way at the pad for the
arrival of the STEREO payload.

In the Astrotech Hazardous Processing Facility clean room, the STEREO
spacecraft was mated to the upper stage booster on Wednesday. Today
the integrated payload is being installed into its transportation
canister. On Saturday morning, STEREO will be moved to the launch pad
for hoisting atop the Delta II.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/21/2006 08:33 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-082106

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Sept. 18, 2006
Launch Time: TBD

STEREO's launch has been postponed to no earlier than Sept. 18, the
opening of the mission's next launch window. The additional time is
necessary for further evaluation of the Delta II second stage to
verify it is structurally sound for flight. This concern arose after
further engineering analysis revealed that a similar tank produced
for another mission was marginally thin in an area of the oxidizer
tank. Engineers are assessing several options for the STEREO launch
vehicle at Pad 17-B to determine the thickness of the tank in this
same area.

STEREO was not transported from Astrotech to the launch pad over the
weekend as planned. It will remain at the payload processing facility
until the necessary course of action for the Delta II can be more
clearly defined.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 09/01/2006 08:08 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-090106

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Oct. 18, 2006
Launch Time: TBD

A decision was made to remove the STEREO second stage from the launch
vehicle and perform inspection from inside the propellant tank to
verify it is structurally sound for flight.

The launch of STEREO is now targeted for no earlier than Oct. 18. An
electrical checkout of the vehicle is under way due to lightning
strikes within a one-third mile radius of Complex 17 during the
passing of Tropical Storm Ernesto.

The STEREO observatories remain at the Astrotech Space Operations
Facility. Today technicians removed the transportation canister from
around the payload to begin the process of reconditioning the
batteries and preparing for the storage period (currently about 30
days). The twin spacecraft will remain in storage until the necessary
course of action for the Delta II can be more clearly defined. There
was no effect on the STEREO spacecraft from Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: MKremer on 09/02/2006 03:37 am
Is this a custom-configured 2nd stage for this mission? If not, why not just swap it with an already tested and verified safe D-II 2nd stage?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 09/02/2006 02:25 pm
All the mission unique wiring is on the D-II 2nd stage.   Also this one is configured for a 3rd stage.   Additionally, the problems are a fleet wide (except for USAF GPS vehicles)
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 09/16/2006 09:51 am
Mission: Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Oct. 25, 2006
Launch Time: TBD

At Pad 17-B, the Delta II second stage was destacked on Sept. 6 for
further testing to determine the thickness of the tank in identified
areas. The initial test procedures are complete and the results are
being assessed. These results will be used with continuing analytical
evaluation to determine the flight worthiness of the second stage.
This should be concluded in about a week. In the meantime, workers
will reinstall the engine on the second stage.

STEREO remains at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility. The
transportation canister was removed on Sept. 1 so technicians could
recondition the spacecraft flight batteries and monitor critical
functions during the hiatus. The twin observatories remain stacked on
top of the third stage. The transportation canister will be
reinstalled immediately prior to the payload being moved to the
launch pad for mating to the Delta II.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 09/28/2006 03:30 am
STATUS REPORT: ELV-092706

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: No earlier than Oct. 25, 2006
Launch Time: TBD

After an assessment of all engineering data, engineers have determined
that the Delta II second stage tank for STEREO is ready for
processing to continue. A final determination of flightworthiness
will be made prior to spacecraft mating to the Delta II rocket. The
second stage will be re-erected atop the first stage on Friday, Sept.
29 at Pad 17-B.

STEREO remains at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility. During the
hiatus, the spacecraft flight batteries were reconditioned. The twin
solar observatories remain stacked on top of the third stage. The
transportation canister will now be reinstalled in preparation for
moving to the launch pad on Oct. 12.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/07/2006 11:05 am
STATUS REPORT: ELV-100606

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Oct. 25, 2006
Launch Time: 8:38 - 8:53 p.m. EDT

The Delta II second stage was re-erected atop the first stage on Sept.
29. Guidance and control system checks of the launch vehicle were
completed on Oct. 4. Today, launch vehicle engineers are performing a
simulated flight test. This is an electrical and mechanical flight
events test that activates the rocket's systems as they will occur
during powered flight, starting with liftoff and ending with second
stage separation. The Flight Program Verification, an integrated test
which includes the STEREO spacecraft and upper stage booster, is
scheduled for Oct. 16.

STEREO is at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility being prepared
for reinstallation into the payload transportation canister on Oct.
9. The twin observatories stacked on top of the upper stage booster
will be moved to the launch pad on Oct. 11 and hoisted atop the
Boeing Delta II rocket. The payload fairing is scheduled to be
installed around STEREO on Oct. 19.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/13/2006 09:24 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-101306

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Oct. 25, 2006
Launch Time: 8:38 - 8:53 p.m. EDT

STEREO is at Pad 17-B atop the Boeing Delta II rocket. The spacecraft
was moved from Astrotech to the launch pad on Oct. 11 as scheduled.
Functional testing of the twin observatories is under way. A
compatibility test with the Deep Space Network is also scheduled for
today.

The Delta II Flight Program Verification, a complete integrated
electrical and mechanical test with STEREO and the rocket, is
scheduled for Oct. 16. This involves a launch countdown (minus count)
and the launch vehicle flight events (plus count). The spacecraft is
scheduled to be encapsulated in the fairing on Oct. 19.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/17/2006 05:45 pm
10.17.06

Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1237/202-358-1726

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

Rani Gran
Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.
301-286-2483

Kristi Marren
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Md.
240-228-6268

MEDIA ADVISORY: 65-06

STEREO SOLAR OBSERVATORIES LAUNCHING ABOARD DELTA II ON OCT. 25

Launch of NASA's STEREO spacecraft is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct.
25, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, Fla. The launch window is 8:38 to 8:53 p.m. EDT.
Should the launch be postponed for 24 hours for any reason, the
launch window is 8:26 to 8:41 p.m. EDT, or for a 48-hour
postponement, 8:32 to 8:47 p.m. EDT.

STEREO consists of two spacecraft that together comprise the first
mission to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-D. This
new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its
impact on the Earth.

During the two-year mission, the nearly identical spacecraft will
explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of
coronal mass ejections, the most violent explosions in our solar
system. When directed at Earth, these billion-ton eruptions can
disrupt satellites, radio communications and power systems. In
addition, energetic particles associated with these solar eruptions
are hazardous to scientific spacecraft and astronauts.

Truly an international effort, many portions of the STEREO instruments
were provided by the United States, the United Kingdom and several
European countries. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory, in Laurel, Md., designed and built the spacecraft and
will operate the twin observatories for NASA during the mission.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is responsible
for the project management. The NASA Launch Services Program at
Kennedy Space Center and Boeing Expendable Launch Systems are
responsible for the launch.

Prelaunch Press Conference

The prelaunch press conference will be held at the NASA News Center at
KSC at 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Participating in the briefing
will be:

Omar Baez, NASA Launch Director/NASA Launch Manager
Kennedy Space Center

Kris Walsh, Director of NASA Programs
Boeing Expendable Launch Systems, Huntington Beach, Calif.

Nicholas Chrissotimos, STEREO Project Manager
Goddard Space Flight Center

Ed Reynolds, STEREO Project Manager
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Joel Tumbiolo, U.S. Air Force Delta II Launch Weather Officer
45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

STEREO Mission Science Briefing

A mission science briefing will immediately follow the prelaunch press
conference. Participating will be:

Michael Kaiser, STEREO Project Scientist
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. Russ Howard, SECCHI Principal Investigator
Naval Research Laboratory

Dr. Janet Luhmann, IMPACT Principal Investigator
University of California at Berkeley

Dr. Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO Program Scientist
NASA Headquarters

No post-launch press conference will be held. A post-launch release
will be issued with details on the state of health of the STEREO
spacecraft after data is received through the Canberra tracking
station of the Deep Space Network. The release is expected to be
issued approximately two hours after launch.

Accreditation and Media Access Badges for KSC

Those who need press accreditation and access badges to the Kennedy
Space Center to cover the STEREO prelaunch press conference and
mission science briefing should do the accreditation process via the
Web by going to: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov.

All accreditation requests for the STEREO prelaunch press conference
and mission science briefing to be held at the KSC press site must be
received by Friday, Oct. 20. Media may obtain their NASA access
badges at the Pass and Identification Building, the badging station
located on State Road 405 just east of U.S. 1. Contact the NASA News
Center at 321/867-2468 for further information.

Remote Camera Placement at Complex 17

Wednesday, Oct. 25: Photographers who wish to set up remote cameras at
the Delta launch complex will be escorted by a Boeing representative
to Pad 17-B. Departure by vehicle convoy will be at 8:45 a.m. from
the Gate 1 Pass and Identification Building located on State Road 401
outside Gate 1 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Tower Rollback Photo Opportunity at Complex 17

Wednesday, Oct. 25: There will be an opportunity to observe rollback
of the mobile service tower from around the STEREO/Delta II launch
vehicle at Pad 17-B. Media should report at 10:30 a.m. to the Gate 1
Pass and Identification Building on State Road 401 outside Gate 1 on
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Press credentials and
identification from a bona fide news organization will be required.
Transportation by government bus will be provided to Launch Complex
17.

Launch Day Press Site Access to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Wednesday, Oct. 25: Media covering the STEREO launch will be able to
obtain press access badges beginning at 7 p.m. at the Gate 1 Pass and
Identification Building on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station located
on State Road 401. Press credentials and identification from a bona
fide news organization will be required to obtain an access badge. A
driver's license alone will not be sufficient. However, additional
identification will not be required for those who present a
pre-issued NASA accreditation badge for STEREO or a valid permanent
NASA-KSC picture badge.

Departure in a vehicle caravan from Gate 1 to Press Site 1 will be at
7:15 p.m. Access badges cannot be issued after that time.

News Center Hours for Launch

The NASA News Center at KSC will open for STEREO news operations
starting Monday, Oct. 23, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On launch day,
Wednesday, Oct. 25 the news center will re-open one hour after launch
to confirm the spacecraft state of health and to issue the post
launch press release.

Starting Monday, Oct. 23, status reports on the launch of STEREO and
updates to the Media Advisory will be recorded on the KSC news media
codaphone at 321-867-2525.

NASA Web Prelaunch and Launch Coverage

NASA's home on the Internet, http://www.nasa.gov, will provide
extensive prelaunch and launch day coverage of the STEREO mission.

Live countdown coverage from NASA's Launch Blog begins at 6:30 p.m.,
Oct. 25. Coverage features real-time updates as countdown milestones
occur, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch
preparations and liftoff.

A panel of experts has answered questions about NASA's preparation for
the STEREO mission. Those responses are available online and through
NASA podcasts.

To access these interactive features and more, go to NASA's STEREO
main page at http://www.nasa.gov/stereo and follow the "Countdown
Coverage" and "Ask the Mission Team" links provided under the
"Events" column. For more information about STEREO mission online
events, contact Dennis Armstrong at 321-867-4493.

Television Coverage

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, television coverage of the STEREO prelaunch press
conference and mission science briefing will begin at 1 p.m. EDT. On
Wednesday, Oct. 25, television coverage of the launch will begin at
6:30 p.m. EDT and conclude after spacecraft separation from the Delta
II rocket approximately 30 minutes after launch. The broadcast
network HDNet will also carry the launch in high definition
television format starting at 8:30 p.m. For more information visit
http://www.hd.net.

Audio only of the prelaunch press conference and mission science
briefing will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits which may be
accessed by dialing 321-867-1260 or 321-867-7135 beginning at 1 p.m.
EDT on Oct. 24. On launch day, Oct. 25, "Mission Audio," countdown
activities without NASA launch commentary, will be carried on
321-867-7135 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Audio of the NASA launch
commentary will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be available on
321-867-1220, 1240, 1260. It will also be available on local amateur
radio frequency 146.940 Mhz (VHF) or 442.6 Mhz (UHF), heard within
Brevard County.

For information on receiving NASA Television go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html


-end-
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/19/2006 04:55 pm
LOCKHEED MARTIN INSTRUMENT TO MONITOR SOLAR ERUPTIONS ON LATEST NASA SUN MISSION

PALO ALTO, CALIF.,October 19, 2006

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) instrument  - designed and built at the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory of the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto - will soon begin returning stereo images of the Sun's corona as part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). STEREO will utilize two nearly identical spacecraft on different trajectories to study the most energetic events on the surface and in the lower atmosphere of the Sun, and their travel through interplanetary space.

Data from spacecraft instruments will allow scientists to construct the first ever three-dimensional views of the Sun, providing a new perspective on Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). CMEs are violent explosions on the surface of the Sun that can propel up to 10 billion tons of the Sun's atmosphere - at a million miles an hour - out through the corona and into space.

The two STEREO spacecraft will be launched together on a Delta-II on Oct.25, 2006 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Both spacecraft will fly by the Moon taking advantage of a gravity assist that will propel one of the observatories into an orbit "ahead" of the Earth in its journey around the Sun, and the other "behind" our planet as it makes its yearly revolution.

EUVI is one element of an instrument suite on each STEREO spacecraft called SECCHI   - the Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation - under the direction of Principal Investigator Dr. Russell Howard of the Naval Research Laboratory of Washington, D.C. SECCHI comprises a suite of telescopes, including three white light coronagraphs and EUVI.

"We've been studying CMEs for a long time, but SECCHI will offer us new insight into the structure and evolution of the solar corona in three dimensions, while EUVI focuses specifically on the initiation and early evolution of CMEs," said Dr. James Lemen, Lockheed Martin co-investigator on SECCHI. "EUVI and the other instruments on SECCHI will follow the propagation of these events through the corona, out into interplanetary space and all the way to Earth, giving us a comprehensive view of these enormous phenomena."

Coronal mass ejections, which are often associated with solar flares, can take several days to reach the Earth. Fast, powerful ejections give rise to geomagnetic storms, which can disrupt radio transmissions and induce large currents in power transmission lines and oil pipelines. They have resulted in large-scale failures of the North American power grid and greatly increased pipeline erosion. CMEs also can generate spectacular auroras in Earth's polar skies, but can disrupt spacecraft and be extremely hazardous to astronauts.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. manages the STEREO mission. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. designed and built the spacecraft. The laboratory will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results.

The Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory at the ATC has a long heritage of spaceborne solar instruments including the Soft X-ray Telescope on the Japanese Yohkoh satellite, the Michelson Doppler Imager on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, the solar telescope on NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer and the Solar X-ray Imager on the GOES-N environmental satellite. The laboratory also conducts basic research into understanding and predicting space weather and the behavior of our Sun including its impacts on Earth and climate.

The ATC is the research and development organization of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC). LMSSC, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a variety of advanced-technology systems for national security, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; launch vehicles, fleet ballistic missiles; and missile defense systems.
 
Contact:
Buddy Nelson, (510) 797-0349; e-mail, [email protected]
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/20/2006 02:37 pm
STATUS REPORT: ELV-102006

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Oct. 25, 2006
Launch Time: 8:38 - 8:53 p.m. EDT

STEREO, at Pad 17-B atop the Boeing Delta II rocket, was encapsulated
into the Delta II fairing on Thursday. The second stage is scheduled
to be loaded with storable propellants on Monday, Oct. 23. Because
this is a hazardous operation, the launch pad will be closed to all
other work.

The Delta II flight program verification, a complete integrated
electrical and mechanical test with STEREO and the rocket, was
successfully completed on Monday. There are no significant launch
vehicle or spacecraft issues or concerns at this time.

On launch day, Oct. 25, the gantry-like mobile service tower is
scheduled to be retracted from around the Delta II at 11:15 a.m. The
terminal countdown procedure begins at 5:38 p.m. Engineers are
scheduled to begin loading the first stage with RP-1, a highly
refined kerosene fuel, at 5:58 p.m. The launch team will load the
first stage with liquid oxygen 50 minutes later at 6:48 p.m. Liftoff
is scheduled for 8:38 p.m. at the opening of a 15-minute launch
window.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Wisi on 10/20/2006 05:50 pm
October 20 Status Update from NASA-Homepage

With launch less than a week away, STEREO is safely encapsulated inside the protective payload fairing at the top of the Boeing Delta II rocket. The vehicle's second stage will be loaded with storable propellants on Monday, Oct. 23. The flight program verification, an integrated electrical and mechanical test which includes the STEREO spacecraft and upper stage booster, was successfully completed on Oct. 16.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/24/2006 02:09 pm
Currently undergoing its Launch Readiness Review.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/24/2006 03:07 pm
Is there an additional Star 48B motor attached to the spacecraft? Was the fueling of the upper stage completed? Btw what is the propellant and the oxidizer of that stage - UDMH, MMH, N2O2, NO2?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/24/2006 03:10 pm
The launch pad
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/24/2006 03:17 pm
Quote
Spirit - 24/10/2006  10:50 AM

Is there an additional Star 48B motor attached to the spacecraft? Was the fueling of the upper stage completed? Btw what is the propellant and the oxidizer of that stage - UDMH, MMH, N2O2, NO2?

Additional?  There is only one and it is the 3rd stage of the Delta II

loaded yesterday,N2O4 and Aerozine 50.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/24/2006 03:18 pm
Quote
Chris Bergin - 24/10/2006  2:52 PM

Currently undergoing its Launch Readiness Review.

Passed. :)
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/24/2006 03:30 pm
Stereo media resources, for anyone who did not see this before:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/index.html

NASA's DELTA-II countdown page:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/launch/delta-II-Count-101.html

STEREO spacecraft info:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/spacecraft/index.html

And Countdown Coverage:
Begins approximately 2 hours before launch:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/launch/vlcc.html
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/24/2006 03:31 pm
Quote
jacqmans - 20/10/2006  9:20 AM

STATUS REPORT: ELV-102006

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: STEREO
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II
Launch Date: Oct. 25, 2006
Launch Time: 8:38 - 8:53 p.m. EDT

This will be the first launch from Pad 17B since January 2005.

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/24/2006 04:02 pm
So the first stage has a RS-27A engine and burns RP-1 and LOX. The third stage is the Star-48B solid rocket motor according to http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta2/delta2.htm , which is usually required for GTO, space exploration and planetary missions. Do you mean that the Star-48B solid rocket motor is being fueled with N2O4 and Aerozine 50? If so what does the second stage (the stage with the AJ10-118K engine) use for fuel and oxidizer?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/24/2006 04:43 pm
The 3rd stage is the solid STAR-48B
The 2nd stage is liquid.  I was referring to that it was loaded yesterday.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/24/2006 09:40 pm
Since it appears that all of us missed the pre-launch press conference here it is for download: http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1083

According to Omar Baez(NASA Launch Manager for this flight), they're working two technical issues. One relates to two STEREO spacecraft computers.

Yesterday the computer on MESSENGER restarted itself and since the STEREO computers share the same motherboard design, they want understand what caused MESSENGER's computer to perform the restart and make sure it doesn't happen on the STEREO computers.

The second one is with the Delta II fairing. Some closeout photos of the fairing showed to washers on some nuts had not been installed.

A decision whether to proceed with a launch tommorow wwill be made some time after 6 pm EDT tonight.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Rocket Guy on 10/24/2006 11:39 pm
They have cleared all issues.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: John44 on 10/25/2006 12:02 pm
STEREO Mission Science Briefing
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1084

STEREO Prelaunch Press Conference
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1083
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 02:56 pm
Forgive me if someone has already mentioned this, but the following story tells us that today's launch will use the first Delta II "built entirely" at Decatur.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061025/rocket.shtml

I seem to recall that the leaky tank issue had something to do with the move from Pueblo.  It will interesting to see if any other "gotcha's" appear with this flight.

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 02:59 pm
The leaky tank was made in Italy. Had nothing to do with the move to Decatur
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 03:01 pm
Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  9:42 AM

The leaky tank was made in Italy. Had nothing to do with the move to Decatur

Weren't these tanks made in Pueblo before the move?

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 03:02 pm
nope
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 03:44 pm
Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  9:45 AM

nope

O.K..  I see from the following press release that the tanks are contracted to Alcatel Alenia Space in Turin, Italy.

http://www.home.alcatel.com/vpr/vpr.nsf/DateKey/18042006_1uk

Alcatel Alenia Space (probably just Alenia Spazio then) won this work in 2001.  The move from Pueblo didn't happen until several years after that.  Who built the tanks prior to 2001?

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/25/2006 04:13 pm
When will be retracted the VAB (or however it is called)?

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 04:24 pm
Quote
Spirit - 25/10/2006  5:56 PM

When will be retracted the VAB (or however it is called)?

It's the Mobile Service Tower(MST).
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 05:00 pm
Quote
edkyle99 - 25/10/2006  10:27 AM

Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  9:45 AM

nope

O.K..  I see from the following press release that the tanks are contracted to Alcatel Alenia Space in Turin, Italy.

http://www.home.alcatel.com/vpr/vpr.nsf/DateKey/18042006_1uk

Alcatel Alenia Space (probably just Alenia Spazio then) won this work in 2001.  The move from Pueblo didn't happen until several years after that.  Who built the tanks prior to 2001?

 - Ed Kyle

Answering my own question (the answer is Boeing at Huntington Beach), with info from the following abandoned web page.

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:i5wdqt70wkUJ:www.alespazio.it/space_infrastructures_page.aspx%3FIdProg%3D43+%22delta+II%22+tank&hl=en&lr=&strip=1

"Since the 1980s, and exploiting the know-how and technological capabilities deriving from aeronautic and space applications of Tungsten (TIG) welding, Alenia Spazio has developed a production line of a small series of tanks in special steels for the liquid propellant of expendable launchers. With the termination of the medium European launcher Ariane IV, for which the company delivered 482 tanks over a period of 20 years, Alenia Spazio is continuing the production line through a major commercial contract with the US company Boeing for the tanks of the Delta II launcher. Alenia Spazio produces the (single) tank for the second stage which was previously (up until 2002) built at Boeing in Huntingdon Beach, California. The present contract (a unique case of a non-US company working on an American launcher) is for the supply of 22 tanks. However, given the long life expectancy of the vehicle, there is a strong possibility for other orders in the future. Tank production began at the end of 2002 after a successful development and qualification phase and 6 tanks have so far been delivered."

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 05:03 pm
Quote
Spirit - 25/10/2006  10:56 AM

When will be retracted the VAB (or however it is called)?


The Mobile Service Tower should be retracted within the next hour.

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 05:09 pm
MST is in motion.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/25/2006 05:35 pm
Control room stil empty ??  and what do we see in this split screen ??

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 05:39 pm
That is the MDC (Mission Director Center).  The LCC is not shown.  It won't be manned until at least L-270.  the spacecraft control center is in the upper left.
The MDC is where the Mission Director, NASA Launch Manager and other high management reside



http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/index-ae.html
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 05:40 pm
The Mission Director's Center will start to be manned about 30 minutes prior to start of Terminal Countdown at 5:38 pm EDT(2138 UTC).
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/25/2006 05:41 pm
European experts have played an integral role in developing and building the instruments on NASA's STEREO spacecraft. This exciting new solar mission will allow scientists to build on the work of the ESA/NASA SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMGJ6PFHTE_index_0.html
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/25/2006 05:42 pm
Thanks Jim and Dave
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/25/2006 06:02 pm
What is the device on the photo?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 06:18 pm
It's the fuel meter that measures how many gallons of RP-1 has been loaded into the Delta II core stage.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: nathan.moeller on 10/25/2006 08:06 pm
Looking forward to a great launch.  What altitude will these satellites reach at their high points?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/25/2006 08:25 pm
1 AU?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: nathan.moeller on 10/25/2006 08:32 pm
Quote
Spirit - 25/10/2006  3:08 PM

1 AU?

Say what??  An AU is an Astronomical Unit, which is the distance from the Earth to the sun (93,000,000 miles)!!  That can't be right.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/25/2006 08:40 pm
Quote
nathan.moeller - 25/10/2006  10:15 PM

Quote
Spirit - 25/10/2006  3:08 PM

1 AU?

Say what??  An AU is an Astronomical Unit, which is the distance from the Earth to the sun (93,000,000 miles)!!  That can't be right.

Exactly! The probes will be orbiting the Sun. One will be preceding the Earth and the other one will be following it.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: nathan.moeller on 10/25/2006 08:56 pm
Quote
Spirit - 25/10/2006  3:23 PM

Quote
nathan.moeller - 25/10/2006  10:15 PM

Quote
Spirit - 25/10/2006  3:08 PM

1 AU?

Say what??  An AU is an Astronomical Unit, which is the distance from the Earth to the sun (93,000,000 miles)!!  That can't be right.

Exactly! The probes will be orbiting the Sun. One will be preceding the Earth and the other one will be following it.

See that thought crossed my mind after I posted but I was thinking these were Earth-orbiting satellites.  Cool to hear!  How far out from the sun will they be?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Spirit on 10/25/2006 09:12 pm
The distance from the Sun to the probes will be ~1 AU. I don't know the distance from the spacecraft to the Earth. See these animations:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/multimedia/getting_there.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/multimedia/heliocentric.html

Something happened after I reinstalled my Windows and now I cannot watch the animations in both MOV and MP4 formats. Hopefully you will be able to watch them.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/25/2006 09:15 pm
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/orbit.shtml Here is the orbits explanation and some movies to give a more graphical and clear idea.

EDIT: Well, Spirit overrun me :) Anyway, to everyone's information, the orbits will be approximately that of Earth, slightly more eccentrical, so A is closer to the Sun, and B farther away.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/25/2006 09:21 pm
Changing topic: we are more or less 40 minutes away from releasing the 150 minutes hold (the first hold of 3) and everything is proceeding nominally.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 09:50 pm
Does everyone know where they can track the countdown?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 09:53 pm
Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  11:33 PM

Does everyone know where they can track the countdown?
Yep, here: http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/public/ but it seems a little bit sluggish.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 10:01 pm
Don't add the /public/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 10:02 pm
The hold has been released
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 10:02 pm
Right.  Today's launch will inject the two STEREO spacecraft into highly elliptical Earth orbits with apogees somewhere beyond lunar distance (C3 = -1.8351 km^2/sec^2).  Orbit inclination with respect to Earth's equator will be 28.46-ish degrees.  The spacecraft will stay in these "phasing orbits" for 2-3 months until they perform a lunar swingby.  The first swingby will fling one of the STEREO spacecraft into solar orbit either ahead or behind the Earth.  The second spacecraft will perform a second lunar swingby to enter solar orbit on the opposite side of the earth from the first spacecraft.

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/25/2006 10:08 pm
Moved to newsfeed for live coverage.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 10:11 pm
Just so we don't go through the same "discussion" as before.    Weather condition probabilities are different than upper winds conditions, i.e. 0% chance of weather constraints doesn't mean that upper level winds still can't be out of limits
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/25/2006 10:15 pm
T-130 minutes

L-160 minutes.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/25/2006 10:17 pm
Today's launch will be the world's 50th orbital attempt of the year, unless someone sneaks another flight in before Delta gets off the ground.  Of the 49 launched so far, 3 failed to orbit and one suffered an upper stage failure in orbit.

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 10:17 pm
NASA TV coverage starts at 6:30 pm(2230 UTC), 30 minutes from now.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 10:57 pm
Launch Weather Officer Joel Tumbiolo just held his pre-LOX tanking weather breifing and there's no chance that the weather will prohibit launch tonight. Missed the upper level winds briefing though.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:02 pm
Seems like there's a Collision Avoidance(COLA) cut-out right at the opening of today's launch window at 8:38 pm EDT(0038 UTC). No word on how long the COLA cut-out is.

Also, the NASA team is ready for LOX tanking.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:08 pm
LOX tanking preps are in work.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:12 pm
Correction to the earlier posted COLA cut-out info:
There's two COLA cut-outs tonight, one at 8:48 pm EDT(0048 UTC) and one at 8:52 pm EDT(0052 UTC).

LOX tanking is in progress.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:26 pm
90 minutes to launch, LOX tanking progressing nicely and on-time.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/25/2006 11:34 pm
Rex is my mission manager on another mission.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:43 pm
LOX tanking has been completed.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: atlantis on 10/25/2006 11:45 pm
There is no sound at NASA TV... Has somebody got the same problem?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:47 pm
Quote
atlantis - 26/10/2006  1:28 AM

There is no sound at NASA TV... Has somebody got the same problem?
I did, but a restart of the computer fixed it.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: psloss on 10/25/2006 11:49 pm
Sound has been fine here (cable TV retransmission).
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:49 pm
Inhibited checks of the Range Safety system is in progress.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: atlantis on 10/25/2006 11:54 pm
Quote
DaveS - 25/10/2006  6:30 PM

Quote
atlantis - 26/10/2006  1:28 AM

There is no sound at NASA TV... Has somebody got the same problem?
I did, but a restart of the computer fixed it.

Thanks! Now it's working fine  :)
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/25/2006 11:57 pm
60 minutes to launch. Everything continues to go smoothly for an on-time launch tonight. Range Safety system checks have been completed.

Coming up next is Thrust Vector Control system checks where the engine nozzles on the Delta II core and second stages are moved through a pre-planned pattern to verify their readiness for launch.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:04 am
TVC checks of the second stage engine nozzle has been completed. Moving on to the core stage engine nozzle.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:11 am
No change to the earlier weather forecast. Also, core stage TVC checks have been completed.

T-15 minutes and holding for 20 minutes!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:20 am
T-15 mins and holding. All sounds like everything is go for launch so far.

L-36 mins.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:21 am
10 minutes remaining in this hold. Next hold is at T-4 minutes.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:24 am
Polling of the launch team is underway.

NASA team is "Go" to continue the count.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:27 am
Ready to come out of the hold.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:28 am
Delta launch team is ready to continue the count.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:31 am
T-15 minutes and counting! Next and last hold is at T-4 minutes and lasts for 10 minutes.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: atlantis on 10/26/2006 12:36 am
T-10 minutes and counting.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:39 am
Range is no-go due to winds could blow toxic gasses from the second stage over populated areas in the event of a mishap. Situation is being monitored and they won't come out of the T-4 minutes hold if this is still case. However it is improving.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 12:42 am
The toxic gas is HCL from the solids
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:42 am
T-4 minutes and holding for at least 10 minutes depending on the Range.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:43 am
T-4 mins and holding.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:44 am
Quote
Jim - 26/10/2006  1:25 AM

The toxic gas is HCL from the solids

Apparently "in works" - no real update on the coverage loop.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:45 am
N2 bottles in the core stage thrust section is a little bit too cold so the launch team is trying warm it up a bit. This could extend the hold. Today's launch window is 15 minutes long.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:47 am
Range is RED. Bad interference on the related issue.

Still trying for 8:38 - or target the end of the window at 8:51.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:47 am
Plan is to try to come out of the hold on time, but if they don't, they're going to try for the very end of today's launch window.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: triddirt on 10/26/2006 12:47 am
Trying to clear people from the "port" to clear the range.  If situation does not improve will target for the end of the window at 8:52 EST
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:49 am
RSO (Range Safety Officer) No Go for launch (Range Red).
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:49 am
No go on the temps too.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: triddirt on 10/26/2006 12:50 am
After all those shuttle launches it's strange to hear "No Go" calls on the live coverage..
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:50 am
Also still working on the N2 bottles temp issue in the core stage.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 12:50 am
The "port' is Port Canaveral which is south west of the pad
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Launch Fan on 10/26/2006 12:51 am
Seems very strange that the range is not secured at this late stage of the count.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:51 am
L-5mins 30 seconds.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:52 am
STEREO being reconfigured for launch.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:52 am
Not releasing the hold, going for the end of window.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:53 am
Not coming out of the hold. Target now 8:52 Local.

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 12:53 am
The range and launch area is secure.  What has happened is that in case of a accident a toxic cloud could move over Port Canaveral. They are trying to reduce the number of people in the Port
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 12:54 am
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 12:55 am
The N2 bottle temp issue has been cleared for launch. No update on the Range yet.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/26/2006 12:57 am
Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  7:36 PM

The range and launch area is secure.  What has happened is that in case of a accident a toxic cloud could move over Port Canaveral. They are trying to reduce the number of people in the Port

I wouldn't bet on pulling that one off.  Scallop boats.  Fishermen.  "Bird" watchers at the pier.  Cargo ship crews.  Passenger ships maybe?  There used to be a restaurant or two.  

 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: triddirt on 10/26/2006 12:58 am
~9 minutes left in launch window..
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 12:58 am
I think it is the north part of the port
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:00 am
Preliminary report: Range is go!!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edkyle99 on 10/26/2006 01:00 am
Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  7:41 PM

I think it is the north part of the port

OK.  That might be do-able.  Only one entrance.


 - Ed Kyle
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:00 am
Range is green now.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:01 am
We'll be recording the launch from T-4 mins and counting.

Follow here, and http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/ and www.nasa.gov/ntv
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:02 am
Confirmed! Range is green!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:02 am
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:06 am
T-4 minutes and counting!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:08 am
T-3 minutes!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:08 am
T-2 minutes, STEREO is go.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:09 am
LOX tank being pressurized for launch.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:09 am
T-60 seconds. All go. Go Delta II, Go STEREO.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:10 am
T-30 seconds, hydraulics is go!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:11 am
Lift-off!!!!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:11 am
Vehicle ascending nicely!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:11 am
Great lift-off.

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:12 am
Burn out and jettison of the ground-lit solids! Ignition of the airlit solids.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:12 am
SRB jettison. All ground starts ignition.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:13 am
14 miles already.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:13 am
Burn out and jettison of the airlit solids.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:14 am
Nominal flight. 36miles altitude. 6000mph. 100 miles downrange. That vehicle moves!!!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:15 am
MECO and VECO. Jettison of the core stage. Fairing jettisoned.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:16 am
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: triddirt on 10/26/2006 01:16 am
Funny Aside: I had KSC live feed in one window and the NASA feed in another. The takeoff happened first on the KSC feed and 10 or so seconds later on the NASA TV feed. Threw me for a bit..
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:17 am
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:17 am
Official Range lift-off time is 00:52:00.345.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:18 am
About 2 minutes away from SECO-1.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 01:18 am
I had the live feed in my front yard.  Could see it until 2nd stage ignition.  NTV should have stayed on it instead of going to simulation
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:18 am
Very light jet activity (RCS).

Waiting for SECO.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Satori on 10/26/2006 01:18 am
Did anyone took note of the range lift-off time? Thanks!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: triddirt on 10/26/2006 01:19 am
Quote
Jim - 25/10/2006  9:01 PM

I had the live feed in my front yard.  Could see it until 2nd stage ignition.  NTV should have stayed on it instead of going to simulation
Lucky!!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: triddirt on 10/26/2006 01:21 am
SECO
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:21 am
Quote
Satori - 26/10/2006  3:01 AM

Did anyone took note of the range lift-off time? Thanks!
Official Range lift-off time is 00:52:00.345 UTC.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:21 am
SECO and in orbit.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:23 am
LOS from Antigua.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Satori on 10/26/2006 01:24 am
Quote
DaveS - 25/10/2006  8:04 PM

Quote
Satori - 26/10/2006  3:01 AM

Did anyone took note of the range lift-off time? Thanks!
Official Range lift-off time is 00:52:00.345 UTC.

Okay DaveS, tank you very much!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:26 am
Ignition!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 01:27 am
seco2
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:27 am
Burn is going well. 30 seconds remaining in the burn.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:28 am
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:29 am
Cool. I'll keep taping...

Third stage sep.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nick L. on 10/26/2006 01:30 am
Third stage ignition!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:30 am
Third stage ignition.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 01:30 am
TECO
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 10/26/2006 01:31 am
Burn out!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:35 am
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Jim on 10/26/2006 01:35 am
Yo Yo Despin and........
S/C SEP!

(I guess I am getting my feeds faster than most people)
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nick L. on 10/26/2006 01:36 am
SPACECRAFT SEPARATION!!!!!

Congratulations to Boeing and the Delta team! Another job very well done.

And now for a question: What is that beeping sound we can hear in the background of the feed?

Nick
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Satori on 10/26/2006 01:37 am
Congratulations to all for a great mission and thank you guys for another great live coverage!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jcm on 10/26/2006 01:39 am
But when does STEREO-A separate from STEREO-B?
Anyone know?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 01:39 am
Nice work.

Recorded about 35meg of video. Will be available in 5-10 mins.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: STS Tony on 10/26/2006 01:51 am
Great work and brilliant coverage on here again.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jcm on 10/26/2006 01:52 am
Quote
jcm - 25/10/2006  9:22 PM

But when does STEREO-A separate from STEREO-B?
Anyone know?

According to spaceflightnow.com, 2 min after stage 3 separation.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 02:00 am
Launch video from T-4 mins to space craft seperation. Includes various launch replay views. 35 meg.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5006&start=1
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Dom on 10/26/2006 02:59 am
I snapped a few pics tonight, i'll see if i cant get them posted shortly


Edit - These are really my first attempts at taking any kind of night shots with a new camera (and no tripod, d'oh!), so please be nice :) There's more if anyone's interested, but they're essentially the same thing ;)
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 10/26/2006 03:05 am
Quote
Dom - 26/10/2006  3:42 AM

I snapped a few pics tonight, i'll see if i cant get them posted shortly


Edit - These are really my first attempts at taking any kind of night shots with a new camera (and no tripod, d'oh!), so please be nice :) There's more if anyone's interested, but they're essentially the same thing ;)

Whoa, love them.

Yeah, more would be great. Especially for those of us who are stuck in a very cold rainy place, with no space program, 4,000 miles away ;)
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Dom on 10/26/2006 03:18 am
Quote
Chris Bergin - 25/10/2006  10:48 PM

Whoa, love them.

Yeah, more would be great. Especially for those of us who are stuck in a very cold rainy place, with no space program, 4,000 miles away ;)

Thanks :) We thought we were going to miss the launch so we basically just pulled in on a random road & set up shop right on some someone's front yard.

This was my first night launch & the first launch I've seen up close-ish.

Anyhow, those 4 are really the cream of the crop. I took about 50 more exposures, but many of them were affected by movement of the camera &/or my makeshift rig, which produced some pretty psychedelic shots.... Needless to say, I'll be sure to remember the tripod next time
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/26/2006 03:28 am
Oct. 25, 2006

Erica Hupp
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1237

Rani Chohan/Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-2483/2806

RELEASE: 06-340

NASA'S FIRST 3-D SOLAR IMAGING MISSION SOARS INTO SPACE

NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories mission, known
as STEREO, successfully launched Wednesday at 8:52 p.m. EDT from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

STEREO's nearly identical twin, golf cart-sized spacecraft will make
observations to help researchers construct the first-ever
three-dimensional views of the sun. The images will show the star's
stormy environment and its effects on the inner solar system, vital
data for understanding how the sun creates space weather.

"The stunning solar views the two observatories will send back to
Earth will help scientists get a better understanding of the sun and
its activity than we've ever been able to obtain from the ground or
any of our other missions," said Nick Chrissotimos, STEREO project
manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The two observatories were launched on a Delta II rocket in a stacked
configuration and separated from the launch vehicle approximately 25
minutes after lift-off. After receiving the first signal from the
spacecraft approximately 63 minutes after launch, mission control
personnel at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
(APL), Laurel, Md., confirmed each observatory's solar arrays
successfully deployed and were providing power. NASA's Deep Space
Network antennas in Canberra, Australia received the initial radio
signals.

During the next two weeks, mission managers at APL will ensure all
systems are properly working. For the next three months, the
observatories will fly from a point close to Earth to one that
extends just beyond the moon's orbit.

After about two months, STEREO's orbits will be synchronized to
encounter the moon. The "A" observatory will use the moon's gravity
to redirect it to an orbit "ahead" of Earth. The "B" observatory will
encounter the moon again for a second swing-by about one month later
to redirect its position "behind" Earth. STEREO is the first NASA
mission to use separate lunar swing-bys to place two observatories
into vastly different orbits around the sun.

Just as the slight offset between human eyes provides depth
perception, this placement will allow the STEREO observatories to
obtain 3-D images of the sun. The arrangement also allows the two
spacecraft to take local particle and magnetic field measurements of
the solar wind as it flows by.

During the observatories' two-year mission, they will explore the
origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of coronal mass
ejections, some of the most violent explosions in our solar system.
These billion-ton eruptions can produce spectacular aurora, disrupt
satellites, radio communications and Earth's power systems. Energetic
particles associated with these solar eruptions permeate the entire
solar system and can be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts.

Better prediction of solar eruptions provides more warning time for
satellite and power grid operators to put their assets into a safe
mode to weather the storm. A better understanding of the nature of
these events will help engineers build better and more resilient
systems.

"We're becoming more and more reliant on space technologies in our
everyday lives and are hatching ambitious plans to explore our outer
space surroundings," said Michael Kaiser, STEREO Project Scientist at
Goddard. "But nature has a mind of its own and STEREO is going to
help us figure out how to avoid those surprises the sun tends to
throw at us and our best-laid plans."

For more information about STEREO, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

Goddard manages the STEREO mission. The APL designed and built the
spacecraft. The laboratory will maintain command and control of the
observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives
the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the
science results. Each observatory has 16 instruments, including
imaging telescopes and equipment to measure solar wind particles and
to perform radio astronomy.

The STEREO mission includes significant international cooperation with
European partners in instrument development, data sharing and
analysis.


-end-
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: nathan.moeller on 10/26/2006 03:37 am
Man I can't believe I missed it.  Studying is such a bummer!  Thanks for the pics and video to keep me up to date guys!  I'll be sure to get the bulk of it tomorrow evening sometime.  Peace out for the night!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: George CA on 10/26/2006 04:29 am
Quote
nathan.moeller - 25/10/2006  10:20 PM

Man I can't believe I missed it.  Studying is such a bummer!  Thanks for the pics and video to keep me up to date guys!  I'll be sure to get the bulk of it tomorrow evening sometime.  Peace out for the night!

Missed it too, but thankfully I totally relived it with this thread. Thanks!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: nathan.moeller on 10/26/2006 04:45 am
WOW!!  AMAZING VIDEO!  Yeah I've definitely gotten way too caught up in the shuttle program.  I've forgotten just how beautiful these Delta and Atlas launches can be!  Thanks for recording that Chris!  This is just awesome...
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Davros on 10/26/2006 06:27 am
Great pages. Good launch.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/26/2006 09:11 am
Boeing Delta II Launches NASA Solar Eruptions Study
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 25, 2006 -- A Boeing [NYSE: BA] Delta II rocket today launched a NASA spacecraft to provide a new perspective on solar eruptions.

NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft will capture images of solar eruptions and other related events from two nearly identical observatories.

A Delta II 7925-10L vehicle launched STEREO into orbit. Lift-off occurred at 8:52 p.m. Eastern time from Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Following a 25-minute flight, the Delta II placed STEREO in a highly elliptical, near escape orbit to complete the mission.

"STEREO is another exciting mission for NASA to help them gain a better understanding of our universe," said Dan Collins, vice president and general manager, Boeing Launch Systems. "Our Delta team takes tremendous pride in our work, and we are extremely pleased to help NASA reach its goals."

STEREO's observatories are offset from one another in orbit. This placement allows STEREO to obtain 3-D images of the Sun and trace the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to the Earth. This unique 3-D imagery will allow scientists to examine the structure of solar eruptions and learn more about their fundamental nature and origin.

The mission's Delta II 7925-10L configuration launch vehicle used a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine, nine ATK solid rocket motors, an Aerojet second stage engine and a 10-foot diameter payload fairing.

The next Delta launch is DMSP F-17 for the U.S. Air Force aboard a Delta IV rocket planned for November from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/27/2006 05:06 pm
ATK Propulsion and Composite Technologies Support Successful Launch of Delta II Rocket
NASA Mission Explores How Solar Changes Affect Life on Earth

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) solid propulsion and composite technologies supported last night's successful launch of a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The launch began NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission to study the sun. The two-year mission, involving a pair of near-identical satellites, will provide scientists with the first 3D images of the sun and allow them to study powerful solar eruptions called coronal mass ejections.

Nine GEM-40 solid propulsion strap-on boosters manufactured by ATK provided augmented thrust for the launch. Six of the boosters ignited at lift-off with the first-stage main engine and provided over 850,000-lbf maximum thrust for the launch vehicle. Just over a minute later, the remaining three boosters ignited to provide an additional 450,000-lbf maximum thrust. The spent motors were jettisoned from the rocket as it continued its ascent.

Following burnout and separation of the GEM-40 boosters and the rocket's liquid second stage, an ATK-produced STAR™ 48B third-stage rocket motor boosted the two observatories from a low-Earth orbit toward the moon where they will gain a gravity assist to enter unique orbits that will optimize their views of solar activity. The two observatory satellites were encapsulated by a 10-ft-diameter composite fairing manufactured by ATK in Iuka, Miss. This launch marked the fifth ATK 10-ft composite fairing flown on a Delta II mission.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 02/23/2007 08:27 pm
Nancy Neal-Jones / Rani Gran                                                                    Feb. 23, 2007
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0039 / 2483

Release:  07-04

 

NEW SOLAR IMAGES HERALDS BETTER SOLAR STORM TRACKING

NASA will host a media teleconference about the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission on Thursday, March 1 at 11:00 am to discuss remarkable imagery from NASA’s recently launched STEREO spacecraft. For the first time, scientists are now able to track solar storms from the sun to Earth using the latest images from NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft.

The new view from the STEREO spacecraft greatly improves scientist’s ability to forecast the arrival time of severe space weather. Previous imagery did not show the front of a solar disturbance as it traveled toward Earth, so scientists had to make estimates of when the storm would arrive.

During the media telecon, new panoramic images from Sun to Earth will be unveiled including a coronal mass ejection (CME) moving though wide-angle view. In addition updates on the spacecraft will be given.

Briefing participants:

-- Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, NASA headquarters, Washington

-- Michael Kaiser, STEREO project scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

-- Russ Howard, SECCHI Principal Investigator, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington

--Ron Dennison, STEREO project manager, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

 
The nearly identical twin observatories will provide 3-D views of the sun and solar wind, perspectives critical to improving understanding of space weather, its impact on astronauts and Earth systems. The satellites launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on October 25, for a two-year mission.

Reporters should call: 800-791-1856 and use the pass code "STEREO" to participate in the teleconference. International media callers should call: 210-234-0006. Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Related images will be available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/panorama_media.html

 
For interviews with Kaiser, contact Rani Gran at 301-286-2483. Video of the panorama will be available on March 1 on NASA TV at noon EDT. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 02/23/2007 09:27 pm
REVISED/UPDATED RELEASE:  The phone number for reporters in the U.S. to call is 1- 888-791-1856
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 03/01/2007 04:16 pm
March 1, 2007

RELEASE:  07-05

STEREO PANORAMA PREVIEWS IMPROVED SOLAR STORM TRACKING

For the first time, scientists can track solar storms from the sun to Earth using the latest images from NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft.

"The new view from the STEREO spacecraft will greatly improve our ability to forecast the arrival time of severe space weather," said Dr. Russell Howard of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, the Principal Investigator of STEREO's Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI). "Previous imagery did not show the front of a solar disturbance as it traveled toward Earth, so we had to make estimates of when the storm would arrive. These estimates were uncertain by a day or so. With STEREO, we can track the front from the sun all the way to Earth, and forecast its arrival within a couple hours."

NASA's STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft were launched on October 25, 2006, and on January 21 completed a series of complex maneuvers, including flying by the moon, to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits. "Both the spacecraft and their instruments are in good health," said Dr. Michael Kaiser, the STEREO Project Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The new panoramic views are created by combining images from the SECCHI suite of telescopes on both spacecraft. They allow scientists to track a type of solar disturbance called a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from its birth at the sun towards Earth. CMEs are violent eruptions of electrically charged gas, called plasma, from the sun's atmosphere. A CME cloud can contain billions of tons of plasma and move at a million miles per hour. As the CME cloud plows through the solar system, it slams into the slower solar wind, a thin stream of plasma constantly blowing from the sun. The collision with the solar wind generates a shock that accelerates electrically charged particles in the solar wind, causing radiation storms that can disrupt sensitive electronics on satellites and cause cancer in unshielded astronauts.

A CME cloud is also laced with magnetic fields and CMEs directed our way smash into Earth's magnetic field. If the CME magnetic fields have the proper orientation, they dump energy and particles into Earth's magnetic field, causing magnetic storms that can overload power line equipment. Satellite and utility operators can take precautions to minimize CME damage, but they need an accurate forecast of when the CME will arrive.

Despite frequent observations over the last decade, many questions remain about CMEs, especially about how they travel through space. "Right now, we don't know where CMEs slow down, why they slow down, or what forces cause them to slow down," said Howard. "The new views from STEREO are like having a curtain lift from our eyes -- they are extraordinarily instructive."

As good as these images are, they are about to get even better. The two observatories will orbit the sun, one slightly ahead of Earth and one slightly behind, separating from each other by approximately 45 degrees per year. Just as the slight offset between your eyes provides you with depth perception, this separation of the spacecraft will allow them to take 3-D images and particle measurements of the sun. Scientists will use the 3-D views to discover new details about the structure of CME clouds, and to see how that structure evolves as the clouds move through space. The first 3-D views are expected in April.

STEREO is the third mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program. STEREO is sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Goddard Science and Exploration Directorate manages the mission, instruments, and science center. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., designed and built the spacecraft and is operating them for NASA during the mission. The STEREO instruments were designed and built by scientific institutions in the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

For images, refer to:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/solarstorm_panorama.html


-end-

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: RedSky on 03/13/2007 10:40 pm
Very interesting movie of lunar transit by STEREO...

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/12mar_stereoeclipse.htm?list39638
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 04/21/2007 06:25 am
Space Weather News for April 20, 2007
http://spaceweather.com

3D SUN:  On Monday, April 23rd, NASA will release for the first time 3-dimensional photos of the sun taken by a pair of spacecraft named STEREO. Magnetic loops, prominences and plumes will practically leap out of your computer screen.  These images will be displayed on big screens at many museums and science centers around the USA and posted on the internet. You can get ready this weekend by buying or building some 3D glasses.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for instructions--and stay tuned for Monday!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 04/24/2007 03:11 am
NEWS RELEASE: 2007-044                                                                    April 23, 2007

NASA Spacecraft Make First 3-D Images of Sun


NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft have made the first three-dimensional images of the sun. The new view will greatly aid scientists' ability to understand solar physics and thereby improve space weather forecasting.

"The improvement with STEREO's 3-D view is like going from a regular X-ray to a 3-D CAT scan in the medical field," said Michael Kaiser, the mission's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The spacecraft were launched October 25, 2006. On January 21 they completed a series of complex maneuvers, including flying by the moon, to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits. The two observatories are now orbiting the sun, one slightly ahead of Earth and one slightly behind, separating from each other by approximately 45 degrees per year. Just as the slight offset between a person’s eyes provides depth perception, the separation of spacecraft allows 3-D images of the sun.  The new 3-D images are generated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.  

Violent solar weather originates in the sun's atmosphere, or corona, and can disrupt satellites, radio communication, and power grids on Earth. The corona resembles wispy smoke plumes, which flow outward along the sun's tangled magnetic fields. It is difficult for scientists to tell which structures are in front and which are behind.

"In the solar atmosphere, there are no clues to help us judge distance.   Everything appears flat in the 2-D plane of the sky. Having a stereo perspective just makes it so much easier," said Russell Howard of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, the principal investigator for the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation suite of telescopes on the spacecraft.

"With STEREO's 3-D imagery, we'll be able to discern where matter and energy flows in the solar atmosphere much more precisely than with the 2-D views available before. This will really help us understand the complex physics going on," said Howard.

The mission's depth perception also will help improve space weather forecasts. Of particular concern is a destructive type of solar eruption called a coronal mass ejection. These are eruptions of electrically charged gas, called plasma, from the sun's atmosphere. A coronal mass ejection cloud can contain billions of tons of plasma and move at a million miles per hour.

Such a cloud is laced with magnetic fields, and coronal mass ejections directed toward Earth smash into our planet’s magnetic field. If the coronal mass ejection magnetic fields have the proper orientation, they dump energy and particles into Earth's magnetic field.  This causes magnetic storms that can overload power line equipment and radiation storms that disrupt satellites.

Satellite and utility operators can take precautions to minimize coronal mass ejection damage, but they need an accurate forecast of when one will arrive. To do this, forecasters need to know the location of the front of the coronal mass ejection cloud. STEREO will allow scientists to accurately locate the cloud front. "Knowing where the front of the CME [coronal mass ejection] cloud is will improve estimates of the arrival time from within a day or so to just a few hours," said Howard. “STEREO also will help forecasters estimate how severe the resulting magnetic storm will be.”

“In addition to the STEREO perspective of solar features, STEREO for the first time will allow imaging of the solar disturbances the entire way from the sun to the Earth. Presently, scientists are only able to model this region in the dark, from only one picture of solar disturbances leaving the sun and reaching only a fraction of the sun-Earth distance," said Madhulika Guhathakurta, the mission's program scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington.

New STEREO images are online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/stereo3D_press.html .
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: John44 on 04/25/2007 04:45 am
video STEREO 3-D Press Conference
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1867&Itemid=2
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 06/18/2007 05:55 pm
LOCKHEED MARTIN INSTRUMENTS STUDY DYNAMIC SOLAR ACTIVITY ON NEW SUN MISSIONS

PARIS,June 18, 2007

Fresh insights into long-standing solar mysteries and the first 3-D views of the Sun have been made possible by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] space instruments on two new Sun-watching space missions. Hinode, an international cooperative mission, and NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) are providing solar physicists a treasure trove of new data on the roiling turbulent nuclear furnace at the center of our solar system.

The primary scientific goal of the Hinode mission, launched on Sept. 23, 2006, is to observe how changes in the magnetic field at the Sun's surface propagate through the different higher layers of the solar atmosphere. A torrent of new images show the Sun's magnetic field to be far more chaotic and energetic than previously believed.

"Hinode images are revealing irrefutable evidence for the presence of turbulence driven processes that are bringing magnetic fields, on all scales, to the Sun's surface, resulting in an extremely dynamic chromosphere or gaseous envelope around the Sun," said Dr. Alan Title, solar physicist at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto, Calif. "We've known for some time that the solar interior is constantly ringing like a bell. We're now learning that the enormous cacophony is leaking out through the magnetic fields and the acoustic waves are causing tremendous heating in the Sun's atmosphere."

A suite of instruments on Hinode, called the Focal Plane Package (FPP) - designed and built at the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory of the ATC - is providing the high-resolution optical measurements that show connections between changes in the Sun's magnetic field and features of the solar atmosphere, both steady state ?- like coronal heating - or transient -- like flares and coronal mass ejections. The FPP resides on Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope, the largest solar optical telescope ever to be flown in space. It can to resolve features on the surface of the Sun just 90 mi. across.

Hinode, Japanese for "sunrise," is a Japanese mission, developed and launched by Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, in collaboration with the National Astronomy Observatory of Japan.

International partners include NASA, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the UK and the European Space Agency. It is the second mission in the Solar Terrestrial Probes Program within the Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and follow-on to the successful Japanese Yohkoh mission.

NASA's STEREO mission focused a new pair of eyes on the Sun, as two spacecraft with identical instruments were launched on October 25, 2006. The two spacecraft are on different trajectories, to study the most energetic events on the surface and in the lower atmosphere of the Sun, and their travel through interplanetary space.

Data from spacecraft instruments are allowing scientists to construct the first ever three-dimensional views of the Sun, providing a new perspective on Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). CMEs are violent explosions on the surface of the Sun that can propel up to 10 billion tons of the Sun's atmosphere - at a million miles an hour - out through the corona and into space.

The ATC-built Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) instrument is one element of an instrument suite on each STEREO spacecraft called SECCHI   - the Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation. SECCHI comprises a suite of telescopes, including three white light coronagraphs and EUVI.

"These first 3-D images are magnificent, and just a taste of wonderful things to come! There is enormous satisfaction in seeing our years of effort bear fruit. We've been studying CMEs for a long time, but SECCHI is offering us new insight into the structure and evolution of the solar corona in three dimensions, while EUVI focuses specifically on the initiation and early evolution of CMEs," said Dr. James Lemen, Lockheed Martin co-investigator on SECCHI. "EUVI and the other instruments on SECCHI are allowing us for the first time to follow the propagation of these events through the corona, out into interplanetary space and all the way to Earth, giving us a comprehensive view of these enormous phenomena."

Coronal mass ejections, which are often associated with solar flares, can take several days to reach the Earth. Fast, powerful ejections give rise to geomagnetic storms, which can disrupt radio transmissions and induce large currents in power transmission lines and oil pipelines. They have resulted in large-scale failures of the North American power grid and greatly increased pipeline erosion. CMEs also can generate spectacular auroras in Earth's polar skies, but can disrupt spacecraft and be extremely hazardous to astronauts. Seeing CMEs in 3-D will allow scientists to discern the cloud front of these enormous detonations and improve predicted arrival times at Earth by an order of magnitude or more.

The complex physics of the solar atmosphere will also be more easily understood as scientists can now view stereoscopic images of solar features and structures and determine which are in front and which behind. The precise flow of matter and energy as it propagates outward from the solar surface will be much clearer.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. manages the STEREO mission. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. designed and built the spacecraft. The laboratory maintains command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates science results.

The Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory at the ATC has a 43-year-long heritage of spaceborne solar instruments including the Soft X-ray Telescope on the Japanese Yohkoh satellite, the Michelson Doppler Imager on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, the solar telescope on NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer and the Solar X-ray Imager on the GOES-N environmental satellite. The laboratory also conducts basic research into understanding and predicting space weather and the behavior of the Sun including its impacts on Earth and climate. The ATC is also designing and building two instruments for NASA's next Sun mission, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, slated for launch in 2008.

The ATC is the research and development organization of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC). LMSSC is a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, and designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; fleet ballistic missiles; and missile defense systems.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.

Contact:
Buddy Nelson, (510) 797-0349; e-mail, [email protected],
Pager: 1-888-916-1797
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/01/2007 06:10 pm
RELEASE: 07-214

NASA SATELLITE SEES SOLAR HURRICANE DETACH COMET TAIL

GREENBELT, Md. - A NASA satellite has captured the first images of a
collision between a comet and a solar hurricane. It is the first time
scientists have witnessed such an event on another cosmic body. One
of NASA's pair of Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory satellites,
known as STEREO, recorded the event April 20.

The phenomenon was caused by a coronal mass ejection, a large cloud of
magnetized gas cast into space by the sun. The collision resulted in
the complete detachment of the plasma tail of Encke's comet.
Observations of the comet reveal the brightening of its tail as the
coronal mass ejection swept by and the tail's subsequent separation
as it was carried away by the front of the ejection. The researchers
combined the images into a movie.

"We were awestruck when we saw these images," says Angelos Vourlidas,
lead author and researcher at the Naval Research Laboratory,
Washington. "This is the first time we've witnessed a collision
between a coronal mass ejection and a comet and the surprise of
seeing the disconnection of the tail was the icing on the cake."

Encke's comet was traveling within the orbit of Mercury when a coronal
mass ejection first crunched the tail then ripped it completely away.
The comet is only the second repeating, or periodic, comet ever
identified. Halley's comet was the first.

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory made the observations
using the Heliospheric Imager in its Sun Earth Connection Coronal and
Heliospheric Investigation telescope suite aboard the STEREO-A
spacecraft. The results will be published in the Oct. 10 issue of the
Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Coronal mass ejections are violent eruptions with masses greater than
a few billion tons. They travel from 60 to more than 2,000 miles per
second. They have been compared to hurricanes because of the
widespread disruption they can cause when directed at Earth. These
solar hurricanes cause geomagnetic storms that can present hazards
for satellites, radio communications and power systems. However,
coronal mass ejections are spread over a large volume of space,
mitigating their mass and power to create an impact softer than a
baby's breath.

Scientists have been aware of the disconnection of the entire plasma
tail of a comet for some time, but the conditions that lead to these
events remained a mystery. It was suspected that coronal mass
ejections could be responsible for some of the disconnected events,
but the interaction between a coronal mass ejection and a comet never
had been observed.

Preliminary analysis suggests the disconnection likely is triggered by
what is known as magnetic reconnection, in which the oppositely
directed magnetic fields around the comet are crunched together by
the magnetic fields in the coronal mass ejection. The comet fields
suddenly link together, reconnecting, to release a burst of energy
that detaches the comet's tail. A similar process takes place in
Earth's magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms, powering the aurora
borealis and other phenomena.

Comets are icy leftovers from the solar system's formation billions of
years ago. They usually reside in the cold, distant regions of the
solar system. Occasionally, the gravitational tug from a planet,
another comet or a nearby star sends a comet into the inner solar
system, where the sun's heat and radiation vaporizes gas and dust
from the comet to form its tail. Comets typically have two tails: one
of dust and a fainter one of electrically conducting gas called
plasma.

"Even though STEREO is primarily designed to study coronal mass
ejections, particularly their impact on Earth, we hope this impact
will provide many insights to scientists studying comets," said
Michael Kaiser, STEREO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

STEREO is the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes
program, sponsored by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Goddard manages the mission, instruments, and science center. The
Heliospheric Imager was built in the United Kingdom by Rutheford
Appleton Laboratory and the University of Birmingham with major
contributions from the Naval Research Laboratory and the Centre
Spatial de Liege, Belgium. Other international partners in the STEREO
mission include the European Space Agency and France, Germany,
Hungary and Switzerland.

For more information and the related images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/02/2008 07:26 pm
RELEASE: 08-165

STEREO CREATES FIRST IMAGES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S INVISIBLE FRONTIER

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA's sun-focused Solar Terrestrial Relations
Observatory, or STEREO, twin spacecraft unexpectedly detected
particles from the edge of the solar system last year. This helped
scientists map the energized particles where the hot solar wind slams
into the cold interstellar medium.

The two STEREO spacecraft were launched in 2006 into Earth's orbit
around the sun to obtain stereo pictures of the sun's surface and
measure magnetic fields and ion fluxes associated with solar
explosions. From June to October 2007, sensors aboard both STEREO
spacecraft detected energetic neutral atoms originating from the same
spot in the sky, where the sun plunges through the interstellar
medium.

Mapping the region by means of neutral, or uncharged, atoms instead of
light "heralds a new kind of astronomy using neutral atoms," said Dr.
Robert Lin, professor of physics at the University of California,
Berkeley and lead for the suprathermal electron sensor aboard the
STEREO spacecraft. "You can't get a global picture of this region,
one of the last unexplored regions of the heliosphere, through normal
telescopes," Lin said. The heliosphere is a bubble in space produced
by the solar wind. It stretches from the sun to beyond the orbit of
Pluto. The solar wind streams off the Sun in all directions at great
speeds. Once beyond the orbit of Pluto, this supersonic wind must
slow down to meet the gases in the interstellar medium. As the solar
wind slows, it changes direction to form a comet-like tail behind the
sun. This subsonic flow region is called the heliosheath.

The results, reported in the July 3 issue of the journal Nature, clear
up a discrepancy in the amount of energy dumped into space by the
decelerating solar wind. The solar wind was detected when Voyager 2
entered the heliosheath.

Researchers determined that the newly discovered population of ions in
the heliosheath contains about 70 percent of the dissipated energy
from the solar wind, exactly the amount unaccounted for by Voyager
2's instruments. The Voyager 2 results also are reported in the July
3 issue of Nature. The Berkeley team concluded that these energetic
neutral atoms were originally ions heated up in the termination shock
area that lost their charge to cold atoms in the interstellar medium
and, no longer hindered by magnetic fields, flowed back toward the
sun and into the sensors aboard STEREO.

"This is the first mapping of energetic neutral particles from the
edge of the heliosphere," Lin said. According to Lin, the neutral
atoms are probably hydrogen, which comprise most of the particles in
the local interstellar medium.

The charge exchange between hot ions and neutral atoms to generate
energetic neutral atoms is well known around the sun and planets,
including Earth and Jupiter. Spacecraft have used this as a means of
remotely measuring the energy in ion plasmas since neutral atoms
travel much farther than ions.

NASA plans to launch the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX,
later this year to more thoroughly map the boundary of the solar
system.

For more information about NASA's STEREO mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo


Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 04/08/2009 06:59 pm
MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-057

NASA SCIENCE UPDATE TO DISCUSS ANATOMY OF SOLAR STORMS

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a Science Update at 1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday,
April 14, to present new findings and three-dimensional views
revealing the inner workings of solar storms known as coronal mass
ejections. The data will improve the ability to predict how and when
these solar tsunamis impact Earth, affecting communication systems,
power grids, and other technology. The briefing will take place in
the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E
St., S.W., and will be carried live on NASA Television.

Briefing participants are:

-- Michael Kaiser, project scientist, Solar Terrestrial Relations
Observatory (STEREO), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md.
-- Angelos Vourlidas, project scientist, Sun Earth Connection Coronal
and Heliospheric Investigation, Naval Research Laboratory in
Washington
-- Antoinette Galvin, principal investigator, Plasma and Suprathermal
Ion Composition instrument, University of New Hampshire in Durham
-- Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, NASA Headquarters


Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations or
listen and ask questions by phone. For dial-in information,
journalists should send an e-mail to [email protected] listing
name, media affiliation, and telephone number.

For information about NASA TV, streaming video, downlink and schedule
information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


For more information about the STEREO mission, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/stereo
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 04/10/2009 07:57 am
RELEASE: 09-082

NASA TWIN SPACECRAFT MAY REVEAL SECRET OF MOON'S ORIGIN

GREENBELT, Md. -- Two identical NASA spacecraft are preparing to enter a point in the universe that may eventually answer the question of how our moon was born.

The spacecraft duet, called Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or Stereo, are nearing a zone known as the Lagrangian points. At these points, the gravity of the sun and Earth combine to form gravitational wells where asteroids and space dust tend to gather. The 18th-century mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange realized there were five such wells in the sun-Earth system. The twin probes are about to pass through two of them, named L4 and L5.

During their journey, the spacecraft will use a wide-field-of-view telescope to look for asteroids orbiting the region. Scientists will be able to identify if a dot of light is an asteroid because it will shift its position against stars in the background as it moves in its orbit.

"These points may hold small asteroids, which could be leftovers from a Mars-sized planet that formed billions of years ago," said Michael Kaiser, Stereo project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "According to Edward Belbruno and Richard Gott at Princeton University, about 4.5 billion years ago when the planets were still growing, a hypothetical world called Theia may have been nudged out of L4 or L5 by the increasing gravity of other developing planets like Venus, sending it on a collision course with Earth. The resulting impact blasted the outer layers of Theia and Earth into orbit, which eventually coalesced under their own gravity to form the moon."

This concept is a modification of a scientific "giant impact" theory of the moon's origin. The theory explains puzzling properties of the moon, such as its relatively small iron core. At the time of the giant impact, Theia and Earth would have been large enough to be molten, enabling heavier elements, like iron, to sink to the center to form their cores. An impact would have stripped away the outer layers of the two worlds, containing mostly lighter elements like silicon. The moon eventually formed from this material.

Stereo's primary mission is to give three-dimensional views of space weather by observing the sun from the two points where the spacecraft are located. Images and other data are then combined for study and analysis. Space weather produces disturbances in electromagnetic fields on Earth that can induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines and causing wide-spread blackouts. It also can affect communications and navigation systems. Space weather has been recognized as causing problems with new technology since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century.

For more information about the Stereo mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: eeergo on 04/10/2009 10:56 am
Related to the post above:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/09apr_theia.htm

"NASA's twin STEREO probes are entering a                      mysterious region of space to look for remains of an ancient                      planet which once orbited the Sun not far from Earth. If they                      find anything, it could solve a major puzzle--the origin of                      the Moon."

The general public can provide help in this link (ŕ la Stardust) sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil (http://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/).                     
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 04/14/2009 05:48 pm
RELEASE: 09-083

NASA SPACECRAFT SHOW THREE DIMENSIONAL ANATOMY OF A SOLAR STORM

WASHINGTON -- Twin NASA spacecraft have provided scientists with their
first view of the speed, trajectory, and three-dimensional shape of
powerful explosions from the sun known as coronal mass ejections, or
CMEs. This new capability will dramatically enhance scientists'
ability to predict if and how these solar tsunamis could affect
Earth.

When directed toward our planet, these ejections can be breathtakingly
beautiful and yet potentially cause damaging effects worldwide. The
brightly colored phenomena known as auroras -- more commonly called
Northern or Southern Lights -- are examples of Earth's upper
atmosphere harmlessly being disturbed by a CME. However, ejections
can produce a form of solar cosmic rays that can be hazardous to
spacecraft, astronauts and technology on Earth.

Space weather produces disturbances in electromagnetic fields on Earth
that can induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines and
causing wide-spread blackouts. These sun storms can interfere with
communications between ground controllers and satellites and with
airplane pilots flying near Earth's poles. Radio noise from the storm
also can disrupt cell phone service. Space weather has been
recognized as causing problems with new technology since the
invention of the telegraph in the 19th century.

NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO,
spacecraft are providing the unique scientific tool to study these
ejections as never before. Launched in October 2006, STEREO's nearly
identical observatories can make simultaneous observations of these
ejections of plasma and magnetic energy that originate from the sun's
outer atmosphere, or corona. The spacecraft are stationed at
different vantage points. One leads Earth in its orbit around the
sun, while the other trails the planet.

Using three-dimensional observations, solar physicists can examine a
CME's structure, velocity, mass, and direction in the corona while
tracking it through interplanetary space. These measurements can help
determine when a CME will reach Earth and predict how much energy it
will deliver to our magnetosphere, which is Earth's protective
magnetic shield.

"Before this unique mission, measurements and the subsequent data of a
CME observed near the sun had to wait until the ejections arrived at
Earth three to seven days later," said Angelos Vourlidas, a solar
physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. Vourlidas
is a project scientist for the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and
Heliospheric Investigation, STEREO's key science instrument suite.
"Now we can see a CME from the time it leaves the solar surface until
it reaches Earth, and we can reconstruct the event in 3D directly
from the images."

These ejections carry billions of tons of plasma into space at
thousands of miles per hour. This plasma, which carries with it some
of the magnetic field from the corona, can create a large, moving
disturbance in space that produces a shock wave. The wave can
accelerate some of the surrounding particles to high energies that
can produce a form of solar cosmic rays. This process also can create
disruptive space weather during and following the CME's interaction
with Earth's magnetosphere and upper atmosphere.

"The new vantage point of these spacecraft has revolutionized the
study of solar physics," said Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program
scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We can better
determine the impact of CME effects on Earth because of our new
ability to observe in 3D."

STEREO is part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes Program in NASA's
Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The program seeks to
understand the fundamental physical processes of the space
environment from the sun to Earth and other planets.

The Solar Terrestrial Probes Program also seeks to understand how
society, technological systems and the habitability of planets are
affected by solar processes. This information may lead to a better
ability to predict extreme and dynamic conditions in space, and the
development of new technologies to increase safety and productivity
of human and robotic space exploration.

For more information about NASA's STEREO mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/06/2009 08:00 pm
Space Weather News for May 6, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft is monitoring an active region hidden behind the sun's eastern limb.  On May 5th, it produced an impressive coronal mass ejection (CME) and a burst of radio emissions signalling the passage of a shock wave through the sun's outer atmosphere.  Activity has continued apace today, May 6th, with at least two more eruptions.  The blast site is not yet visible from Earth, but the sun is turning the region toward us for a better view.  Is a new-cycle sunspot in the offing? Readers with solar telescopes could see it emerge as early as May 7th or 8th.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for images, movies and updates.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/16/2011 06:58 pm
MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-170

NASA HOSTS NEWS BRIEFING ABOUT TRACKING SPACE WEATHER EVENTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news briefing at 2 p.m. EDT, Thursday,
Aug. 18, to discuss new details about the structure of solar storms
and the impact they have on Earth. The new information comes from
NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, spacecraft
and other NASA probes.

The briefing will take place in NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb
Auditorium, located at 300 E St. SW in Washington, and will air live
on NASA Television and the agency's website.

The briefing panelists are:
-- Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, NASA Headquarters

-- Craig DeForest, staff scientist, Southwest Research Institute,
Boulder, Colo.
-- David Webb, research physicist, Institute for Scientific Research,
Boston College
-- Alysha Reinard, research scientist, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado, Boulder

Reporters unable to attend may ask questions from participating NASA
centers or by telephone. To participate by phone, reporters must
contact Steve Cole at 202-358-0918 or [email protected] by 11
a.m. on Thursday.

STEREO is part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes Program in the
agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The program seeks
to understand the fundamental physical processes of the space
environment from the sun to Earth and other planets.

For more information about NASA's STEREO mission, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/stereo


For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information,
visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/ntv   

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/17/2011 08:36 pm
STEREO Images - 17th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/17/index.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Robotbeat on 08/17/2011 08:44 pm
In a few weeks, I'm taking a "Space Plasma Physics" course from one of the Co-investigators for this mission. Anyone have any questions you'd like asked?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/18/2011 01:21 pm
STEREO Images - 18th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/18/index.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/18/2011 06:47 pm
RELEASE: 11-270

NASA DATA AND NEW TECHNIQUES YIELD DETAILED VIEWS OF SOLAR STORMS

WASHINGTON -- NASA spacecraft observations and new data processing
techniques are giving scientists better insight into the evolution
and development of solar storms that can damage satellites, disrupt
communications and cause power grid failures on Earth.

The solar storms, called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), are being
observed from NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or
STEREO, spacecraft launched in 2006. The duo represents a key
component within a fleet of NASA spacecraft that enhance the
capability to predict solar storms.

Previous spacecraft imagery did not clearly show the structure of a
solar disturbance as it traveled toward Earth. As a result,
forecasters had to estimate when storms would arrive without knowing
the details of how they evolve and grow. New processing techniques
used on STEREO data allow scientists to see how solar eruptions
develop into space storms at the Earth.

"The clarity these new images provide will improve the observational
inputs into space weather models for better forecasting," said Lika
Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist at NASA Headquarters in
Washington.

CMEs are billion-ton clouds of solar plasma launched by the same sun
explosions that spark solar flares. When they sweep past Earth, they
can cause auroras, radiation storms that can disrupt sensitive
electronics on satellites, and in extreme cases, power outages.
Better tracking of these clouds and the ability to predict their
arrival is an important part of space weather forecasting.

Newly released images from cameras on the STEREO-A spacecraft reveal
detailed features in a large Earth-directed CME in late 2008,
connecting the original magnetized structure in the sun's corona to
the intricate anatomy of the interplanetary storm as it hit the
planet three days later. When the data were collected, the spacecraft
was more than 65 million miles away from Earth.

The spacecraft's wide-angle cameras captured the images. They detect
ordinary sunlight scattered by free-floating electrons in plasma
clouds. When these clouds in CMEs leave the sun, they are bright and
easy to see. However, visibility is quickly reduced, as the clouds
expand into the void. The clouds are about one thousand times fainter
than the Milky Way, which makes direct imaging of them difficult.
That also has limited our understanding of the connection between
solar storms and the coronal structures that cause them.

"Separating these faint signals from the star field behind them proved
especially challenging, but it paid off," said Craig DeForest,
scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. and
lead author of an Astrophysical Journal article released online
yesterday. "We have been drawing pictures of structures like these
for several decades. Now that we can see them so far from the sun, we
find there is still a lot to learn."

These observations can pinpoint not only the arrival time of the CME,
but also its mass. The brightness of the cloud enabled researchers to
calculate the cloud's gas density throughout the structure, and
compare it to direct measurements by other NASA spacecraft. When this
technique is applied to future storms, forecasters will be able to
say with confidence whether Earth is about to be hit by a small or
large cloud, and where on the sun the material originated.

STEREO's two observatories orbit the sun, one ahead of Earth and one
behind. They will continue to move apart over time. STEREO is the
third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program. The program
seeks to understand the fundamental physical processes of the space
environment from the sun to Earth and other planets.

The STEREO spacecraft were built and are operated for NASA by the
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the
mission, instruments and science center. The STEREO instruments were
designed and built by scientific institutions in the U.S., UK,
France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

For more information and images, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/sunearth


For more information about the STEREO mission and instruments, visit:



http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/18/2011 08:23 pm
Quote
Spacecraft Sees Solar Storm Engulf Earth

For the first time, a spacecraft far from Earth has turned and watched a solar storm engulf our planet. The movie, released today during a NASA press conference, has galvanized solar physicists, who say it could lead to important advances in space weather forecasting.

...


http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18aug_cmemovie/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Robotbeat on 08/19/2011 06:39 am
Quote
Spacecraft Sees Solar Storm Engulf Earth

For the first time, a spacecraft far from Earth has turned and watched a solar storm engulf our planet. The movie, released today during a NASA press conference, has galvanized solar physicists, who say it could lead to important advances in space weather forecasting.

...


http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18aug_cmemovie/
Awesome!!!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/19/2011 10:54 am
STEREO Images - 19th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/19/index.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/20/2011 05:57 pm
STEREO Images - 20th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/20/index.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/22/2011 11:10 am
STEREO Images - 21st Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/21/index.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/23/2011 12:26 pm
STEREO Images - 22nd Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/22/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/23/2011 12:27 pm
STEREO Images - 23rd Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/23/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/24/2011 10:09 am
STEREO Images - 24th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/24/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/25/2011 11:46 am
STEREO Images - 25th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/25/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/26/2011 10:25 am
STEREO Images - 26th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/26/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/27/2011 02:25 pm
STEREO Images - 27th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/27/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/28/2011 02:47 pm
STEREO Images - 28th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/28/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/29/2011 03:14 pm
STEREO Images - 29th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/29/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 08/30/2011 06:54 pm
STEREO Images - 30th Aug 2011

http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/08/30/
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: racshot65 on 04/10/2012 11:16 am
SDO and STEREO Spot Something New On the Sun

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/solar-plumes.html
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 09/05/2012 08:02 pm
NASA | Magnificent Eruption in Full HD

Published on Sep 5, 2012 by NASAexplorer

On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled away from the sun at over 900 miles per second. This movie shows the ejection from a variety of viewpoints as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), and the joint ESA/NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrnGi-q6iWc
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 07/07/2014 09:28 pm
Solar Observatories To Fly Behind Sun | Video

Published on Jul 7, 2014
NASA Goddard

NASA STEREO-A and STEREO-B solar probes' orbits will take them out of view from Earth at different times in 2015 making communication very difficult.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7OvEZqJgwo
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 08/01/2014 12:28 am
close call??

NASA - Carrington-class CME Narrowly Misses Earth

Published on Jul 31, 2014
The close shave happened almost two years ago. On July 23, 2012, a plasma cloud or "CME" rocketed away from the Sun as fast as 3000 km/s, more than four times faster than a typical eruption. The storm tore through Earth orbit, but fortunately Earth wasn't there. Instead it hit the STEREO-A spacecraft. Researchers have been analyzing the data ever since, and they have concluded that the storm was one of the strongest in recorded history.

1st SEGMENT
While I did not have a direct view of the region which launched the large coronal mass ejection (CME) of July 23, 2012, it still managed to catch a glimpse of the solar plasma as it launched into space.

The eruption becomes visible at timestamp 02:14:24 UTC in the lower right side of the movies below.

2nd & 3r SEGMENT
STEREO-A, at a position along Earth's orbit where it has an unobstructed view of the far side of the Sun, could clearly observe possibly the most powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) of solar cyle 24 on July 23, 2012. The visualizations on this page cover the entire day.

We see the flare erupt in the lower right quadrant of the solar disk from a large active region. The material is launched into space in a direction towards STEREO-A. This creates the ring-like 'halo' CME visible in the STEREO-A coronagraph, COR-2 (blue circular image).

As the CME expands beyond the field of view of the COR-2 imager, the high energy particles reach STEREO-A, creating the snow-like noise in the image. The particles also strike the HI-2 imager (blue square) brightening the image.

4th SEGMENT
Like me, Little SDO, STEREO-B did not have a direct view of the coronal mass ejection (CME) launched by the Sun on July 23, 2012. However, the active region involved was very close to the limb of the sun (lower left quadrant) and STEREO-B provided an excellent view of plasma launched in both ultraviolet light and the white-light coronagraph

5th & 6th SEGMENT
In the last visualizations, generated from the Enlil space weather model, green represents particle density, usually protons and other ions. In green, we see the Parker spiral moving out from the Sun generated by the Sun's current sheet

Red represents particles at high temperatures and shows the CME is hotter than the usual solar wind flow. Large changes in density are represented in blue. These three colors sometimes combine to tell us more about the characteristics of the event (noted in the 3-color Venn diagram below).

Since this was a large and potentially disruptive event, the obvious question is why it didn't damage STEREO-A. The reason is that as this cloud of charged particles move through space, they alter magnetic fields which can induce electric voltages in electrical conductors. The intensity of these voltages are proportional to the size of the electrical conducting path. The STEREO-A spacecraft is small enough that the induced voltages are small and the spacecraft is designed to withstand them.

However, if this CME had struck Earth's magnetosphere, which has a much stronger magnetic field, the changing magnetic field would induce much larger voltages in systems with long electrical conductors, such as power lines that run over long distances. These significantly higher voltages can damage power transformers.

Credit: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (Little SDO), NASA STEREO, Dusan Odstrcil (GMU), Leila Mays (CUA) and Janet Luhmann (UCB) and NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJPHwu3_iiA
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 09/24/2014 07:53 pm
NASA | Many Views of a Massive CME

Published on Sep 24, 2014
NASA Goddard

On July 23, 2012, a massive cloud of solar material erupted off the sun's right side, zooming out into space. It soon passed one of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, spacecraft, which clocked the CME as traveling between 1,800 and 2,200 miles per second as it left the sun. This was the fastest CME ever observed by STEREO.

Two other observatories – NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and the joint European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- witnessed the eruption as well. The July 2012 CME didn't move toward Earth, but watching an unusually strong CME like this gives scientists an opportunity to observe how these events originate and travel through space.

STEREO's unique viewpoint from the sides of the sun combined with the other two observatories watching from closer to Earth helped scientists create models of the entire July 2012 event. They learned that an earlier, smaller CME helped clear the path for the larger event, thus contributing to its unusual speed.

Such data helps advance our understanding of what causes CMEs and improves modeling of similar CMEs that could be Earth-directed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg3NAdOYp8Q
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: hoku on 10/24/2014 09:11 am
Any updates on the status of Stereo B?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: plutogno on 11/14/2014 10:15 am
a detailed description of the problem with STEREO Behind
http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/behind_status.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/22/2016 06:54 pm
STEREO-B has been heard from again: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-establishes-contact-with-stereo-mission (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-establishes-contact-with-stereo-mission). Next comm window for STEREO-B opens in 5 minutes at 1900 UTC and closes at 2200 UTC. DSS-14 at Goldstone will be the dish used: http://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Blackstar on 08/22/2016 09:59 pm
Yeah, and to explain this to people who don't know (like I did not know just a few minutes ago): last contact was in October 2014.

Yeah, in other words, it has been missing for almost two years. Now it's back.

So, obligatory:
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/22/2016 10:03 pm
And contact was regained again today at 1927 UTC during today's 3 hour comm window. Only carrier signal, no actual data downlink so far.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/22/2016 11:11 pm
And that's it for today, DSS-14 in STEREO-B ops tear down.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Don2 on 08/23/2016 01:30 am
Remember what happens to folks who board derelict spacecraft.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Ben the Space Brit on 08/23/2016 09:18 am
And contact was regained again today at 1927 UTC during today's 3 hour comm window. Only carrier signal, no actual data downlink so far.

This will doubtless take a while to diagnose. The spacecraft may be on safe mode; the comms may be up but the flight control computer may be down; the sensor data buffer may have had a failure and purged its memory; any number of things could have happened. We'll have to wait and see if they can get the spacecraft to acknowledge and respond to ground commands and they'll have to work forwards from that.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nomadd on 08/23/2016 02:55 pm
 I'm not sure if "The downlink signal was monitored by the Mission Operations team over several hours to characterize the attitude of the spacecraft and then transmitter high voltage was powered down to save battery power" means NASA powered the high voltage down or the spacecraft did. In either case, it sounds like more than detecting an empty carrier.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/23/2016 04:15 pm
I'm not sure if "The downlink signal was monitored by the Mission Operations team over several hours to characterize the attitude of the spacecraft and then transmitter high voltage was powered down to save battery power" means NASA powered the high voltage down or the spacecraft did. In either case, it sounds like more than detecting an empty carrier.
More data at 7 b/s (commanding?) going to STB right now through DSS-14 at Goldstone. Earlier they had a 20 b/s carrier signal going to STB.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/23/2016 04:30 pm
And STB's carrier signal has been detected again.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/23/2016 05:05 pm
DSS-14 now has two carrier down signals from STB, each at 11 b/s.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: eeergo on 08/23/2016 06:09 pm
I'm not sure if "The downlink signal was monitored by the Mission Operations team over several hours to characterize the attitude of the spacecraft and then transmitter high voltage was powered down to save battery power" means NASA powered the high voltage down or the spacecraft did. In either case, it sounds like more than detecting an empty carrier.

It looks like they were using the empty carrier to assess the rotation rate.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/23/2016 07:11 pm
Today's comm session with STB ended as planned at 1845 UTC. No notice given on when the next comm session will be.

Strike that, next comm session will tomorrow at 1325 UTC through 1625 UTC. DSS-63 at Madrid will be used.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/24/2016 04:53 pm
Summary of today's comm session is pretty much just the reception of an empty carrier signal. No commanding. Next session will be tomorrow at 1530 UTC through 1910 UTC through DSS-14 at Goldstone.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: WindnWar on 08/26/2016 10:04 pm
Any further progress?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/26/2016 10:14 pm
Any further progress?
Not much. Starting today they have increased the comm sessions from one per day to two per day. The duration of each comm session has also been increased from 3 hours to 4 hours. And so far there's been no data streams down, just the carrier signal at 0 b/s.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/26/2016 10:18 pm
Found these detailed write-ups on the STEREO status: http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/new.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/26/2016 11:05 pm
For the first time 22 months, STEREO-B is actively downlinking data!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: WindnWar on 08/27/2016 12:47 pm
Dude, that is awesome!

Lets hope for it to continue!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/27/2016 03:00 pm
From http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/new.shtml:

"August 27, 2016

The primary propulsion tank heaters (~30W) were enabled at 1530z on Friday, Aug 26. During the second track, after the IEM was powered, the downlink signal would drop out periodically. From analysis of the Doppler residual data from the FDF, the rotation is more complex, there is an ~14 minute rotation with the previous ~2 minute rotation. This appears to have shifted the spin axis from 10.5 deg to 22 deg. Three packets of critical telemetry were received. From this very limited data, as expected, the observatory is quite cold, with the battery at 30% state of charge and generating power to support ~150W. From the propulsion tank pressures, the tanks appear to be frozen; however, no temperature data were received. The Sun angle averaged ~ 60 degrees. As the main bus voltage was 24v and falling, the transmitter was powered off early. While early in recovery, 2 of 11 battery cells appear not to be functioning. Verified that the increased battery charge rate command to C/4 was received. From engineering team discussions, it was decided to power off the IEM and power on the secondary battery heater to allow the battery to recharge. The secondary propulsion tank heaters were also powered on to continue thawing of the hydrazine.

BEHIND observatory status: Avionics off, uncontrolled attitude, complex rotation about the principal axis of inertia. Current orientation supports nearly continuous communication near the edge of the + Z LGA with some solar array input. Propulsion tanks are frozen. Secondary battery and propulsion tank heaters are on in between DSN tracks."

IEM = Integrated Electronics Module
FDF = Flight Dynamics Facility
LGA = Low Gain Antenna
DSN = Deep Space Network
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: WindnWar on 08/27/2016 05:30 pm
So it looks like the plan is to thaw the fuel tanks and warm up the battery so it can charge faster while trying to narrow down the rotation in order to figure out the series of thruster firings needed to stop the spin and re-point the craft for power generation and communications but doing so in a manner that doesn't exhaust the battery.

I wonder if the star tracker will work again?

Until the tanks are warmed up I assume they won't know how much fuel remains either.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: denis on 08/27/2016 05:43 pm
So it looks like the plan is to thaw the fuel tanks and warm up the battery so it can charge faster while trying to narrow down the rotation in order to figure out the series of thruster firings needed to stop the spin and re-point the craft for power generation and communications but doing so in a manner that doesn't exhaust the battery.

I don't think they would do that (the part in bold).
They have figured out the spin is too high for the reaction wheels to spin it down, so they need a thruster control AOCS mode, which is why they are thawing the propellant before trying to recover attitude control.
Once it's done, they'll switch to some safe/initial acquisition AOCS mode that will kill the spin and orient the solar panel towards the Sun (using gyros and sun sensors + thrusters). No need to compute any series of thruster firing on ground.

Edit:
I wonder if the star tracker will work again?
I would be more concerned about the reaction wheels, as their lubricant could be frozen with possibly pretty bad impact on the bearing.

Something similar (a "deep freeze" for an extended period of time) happened on SOHO years ago but the wheels survived. Their behaviour (friction torque) was pretty bad after "de-freeze" apparently, but then went back to normal. They are still working fine up to now.
On the other hand, all the gyros (mechanical at that time) died from this episode. Probably less of an issue with modern solid-state gyros.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: WindnWar on 08/28/2016 04:16 pm
Not as promising news in the latest update.

 August 28, 2016

On Saturday, August 27, during the evening recovery track, no downlink signal was received after repeated commanding the transmitter on. Battery recovery commands were sent for the last hour of the support.

On Friday evening, as battery voltage was decreasing from the three telemetry packets received, the transmitter was powered off early. However, the downlink signal was lost 6 minutes earlier than expected. It is speculated that with the complex roll, which resulted from powering on the IEM, the battery voltage may have collapsed at some point.

BEHIND observatory status Unknown state of power, uncontrolled attitude, complex rotation (~14 minute rotation with the previous ~2 minute rotation) about the principal axis of inertia. Current orientation may support communication near the edge of the + Z LGA with some solar array input.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/29/2016 12:01 am
Latest news:
August 28, 2016 update


Today, the DSN created a new acquisition sequence for only sweeping a 3 kHz range about the best lock frequency. This was used successfully during the morning Goldstone support to repeatedly sweep and send battery recovery commands. It was agreed to continue battery recovery tonight and on a 4 hour support on Monday. The carrier recovery is scheduled for Tuesday during a 4 hour support with radio science receivers recording.


BEHIND observatory status Unknown state of power, uncontrolled attitude, complex rotation (~14 minute rotation with the previous ~2 minute rotation) about the principal axis of inertia. Current orientation may support communication near the edge of the + Z LGA with some solar array input. Propulsion tanks are frozen.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/30/2016 02:56 pm
August 30, 2016

The DSN has been able to extract 5 additional telemetry frames from Friday's IEM power on. These frames are being processed and the telemetry from the 5 critical packets will be distributed. An updated recovery plan was developed and discussed during the daily telecon. On Tuesday, carrier recovery will be commanded, attempting to power on the TWTA. If the downlink signal is detected, the TWTA on time will be limited to ~21 minutes, which is 1.5 times the period of the beat frequency of rotation and nutation. The reaction wheel latching relays will be commanded off. If no signal is detected, the battery recovery commands will be sent for the remainder of the support and the next day's support will be shortened to 4 hours. This operational cadence will continue until BEHIND is restored to active attitude control or the DSS-63 time ends on Sep 11th.

BEHIND observatory status: Unknown state of power, uncontrolled attitude, complex rotation (~14 minute rotation with the previous ~2 minute rotation) about the principal axis of inertia. Current orientation may support communication near the edge of the + Z LGA with some solar array input. Propulsion tanks are frozen.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/30/2016 06:38 pm
August 30, 2016 update

The DSN detected the carrier signal again from STEREO Behind on the morning of Tuesday, August 30. More details to follow.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 08/31/2016 03:50 pm
August 31, 2016

On Tuesday, Aug 30, the DSN once again detected the downlink carrier signal at 1321z from STEREO BEHIND. The signal was intermittent with a peak level of -159 dBm. FDF analysis of the Doppler residuals shows the signal fluctuating at ~140 seconds and a spin-axis to Earth angle of ~36 degrees. Note that the TWTA was only on for 30 minutes to conserve battery state of charge. A more stable uplink is required to load parameters necessary for conducting an autonomous momentum dump to re-establish attitude control. From Friday's IEM power on, four additional telemetry packets were processed (one was a duplicate) and will be distributed. The reaction wheel latching relays were commanded off along with all unnecessary power loads.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/01/2016 03:02 pm
September 1, 2016

Five telemetry frames were received on Wednesday, August 31. With a good signal level, -159 to -164 dBm and a ~3 minute period, there was continuous communications with the TWTA on for 30 minutes. Subsequent analysis showed that the telemetry from the PDU was stale, so there was no sun vector. From the one sample, the battery appears to be charging with the TWTA on, with battery pressures 634 psi and 19 psi, and main bus voltage at 24.9v. As the uplink was good, the mission operations team began loading uplink time consuming commands to EEPROM, i.e., autoexec macro 1 and bad gyro data parameter to EA and G&C. The S/C emergency was reinstated (had ended at midnight) and a 6.2 hour DSS-14 support was added starting at 1815z. As the signal had sufficient margin, the downlink rate was increased to 35 bps, which provides one (1 packet/frame) every 102 seconds. Eight good telemetry frames were received, including 3 memory dump packets and one temperature packet. Unnecessary systems that were found to be on were turned off to decrease the load on the battery. The 3 loads to EEPROM were verified from dumps received.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/01/2016 08:06 pm
September 1, 2016 update

Today, during 4 brief TWTA sampling periods this morning, communications are still continuous with the carrier signal fluctuating between -158 dBm and -164 dBm. The battery charge rate increased to C/4 for approximately 4 hours during the track this morning increasing the battery pressure by ~50 psi. An autonomous momentum dump parameter was loaded, dumped, and verified to EA RAM and EEPROM and G&C EEPROM. Detailed power subsystem telemetry was received and cell #6 and #9 (2 out of 11 cells) are indicating 0 volts. Propulsion tanks are slowly warming and have increased by ~2 deg C. IMU2 was powered on briefly and initial indications show that it is healthy and was used to confirm the estimated system momentum level (high). 54 telemetry packets were received. From the Doppler data analysis by the FDF, the nutation is slowing and returning to the previous spin axis orientation.

Progress continues on developing the plan and procedure to re-establish attitude control with very limited battery capacity by conducting an autonomous momentum dump in EA mode, powering on reaction wheels, and promoting the observatory to Standby mode.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: avollhar on 09/05/2016 06:42 pm
For tomorrow, the DSN schedule looks exciting:

Behind  2016-09-06 10:00  2016-09-06 16:45  06h45m  D63  9  MOMENTUM DUMP   
Behind  2016-09-06 18:05  2016-09-06 21:00  02h55m  D26  8  SSR PB/UNATT 160

Source: (http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/plans/dsn_schedule.shtml (http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/plans/dsn_schedule.shtml))

Which basically means mission control will try to fire the attitude control thrusters to get rid of excessive momentum, try to advance to earth-pointing 3-axis stabilisation with the momentum wheels and switch the downlink rate to 160 kbit/s (last entry 2nd line, compared to current 35 bit/s emergency mode). Best of luck!
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: avollhar on 09/06/2016 06:19 pm
I could be wrong but I have not seen any downlink signal towards the end of the DSS63 pass. And while DSS26 was preparing for Stereo-B (Setup/Teardown/Tracking) according to 'DSN now', this antenna is now idle. Seems that the DSS26 pass was deleted (should be working Stereo-B since 15 minutes)..
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: avollhar on 09/06/2016 06:38 pm
From http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/minutes/weekly_20160906.txt (http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/minutes/weekly_20160906.txt)

* The reaction wheels came online for 1.3 hours yesterday (Sep 5) due to an
  expected feature in the flight software autonomy rules.  This perturbed the
  spacecraft attitude again.  Subsequent observations appear to show that the
  perturbation is dampening out again, and may be better tomorrow.  Currently,
  the spacecraft is able to receive short commands, but telemetry lock is not
  yet stable.  The solar array is stable, and the batteries continue to charge
  up.  The propulsion is being warmed.  The IMU only has two usable axes out of
  three to assist in reorienting the spacecraft.  The IEM is on, as are three
  heaters.  The spacecraft emergency is still in effect.  Depending on the
  telemetry link, the maneuver to despin the spacecraft and repoint it at the
  Sun may occur tomorrow (Sep 7).  The plan is to despin the spacecraft
  sometime this week, as Behind's orbit continues to change the spin angle
  relative to the Sun and Earth.  After attitude control has been achieved, the
  MOC will continue with checking out the spacecraft and slowly bringing the
  instruments online.  A schedule for this will be sent out later.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/08/2016 03:29 am
I'm currently monitoring the STEREO-B downlink on DSN-Now (DSS-43) and something is up with the signal strength. Previously it had been around the -150 to -160 dBm range but now it's dancing around the -285 to -485 dBm range.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nomadd on 09/08/2016 05:10 am
 I can guarantee you that they're not receiving a -285dbm signal much less -480dbm. I think the noise floor for the DSN is around -198dbm.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/08/2016 08:56 am
That's what threw me, seeing those numbers. And they stayed like that for quite some time.

And today's 8hr session on DSS-63 has begun with a 7 b/s data uplink.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: RagingBullFan on 09/08/2016 06:10 pm
First Momentum dump has been carried out.

Looks like they are working on the web server, but managed to grab this update before it went down again.

Quote
September 8, 2016

Late on Wednesday, September 7, a momentum dump maneuver was carried out on STEREO Behind. This reduced the spacecraft spin rate from once every two minutes to once every 38 minutes, approximately. At this lower rate, the star tracker managed to lock onto a guide star. Telemetry continues to be received. Mission operations personnel are working on improving the spacecraft attitude and fully controlling the spin.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: mn on 09/08/2016 06:24 pm
And now the website just says 'It works!', maybe they mean to say 'all is good again, stereo b is now fully back in operation'.  :D
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/09/2016 07:00 pm
And step back again:

September 9, 2016

Today, while the spacecraft was configured for switching to the +Z LGA and powering on the TWTA before the track this morning, no signal was received today after repeatedly attempting to power on the TWTA. As the spacecraft rotation will settle out about its principal axis of inertia which should continue to provide limited solar array input and communications, battery state of charge recovery has commenced today. As it appears that the momentum dump in EA mode was not as effective as we had hoped for during the STEREO BEHIND recovery into C&DH standby mode late Wednesday, it is suspected that battery voltage collapsed on Thursday due to sustained high wheel speeds.

BEHIND observatory status: low main bus voltage, 2 (#6 & 9) out of 11 battery cells are currently not functioning, attitude uncontrolled. Current orientation supports some solar array input, with possible communications on an LGA.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nomadd on 09/09/2016 09:51 pm
 Does anybody know how those cells are arranged?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/10/2016 10:07 am
The carrier signal has been detected again but it's intermittent and very faint at -180 dBm.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: ccdengr on 09/10/2016 03:30 pm
Does anybody know how those cells are arranged?
If it's a super NiCd battery per https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/s/stereo then it would have 22 1.2V cells in series for a nominal voltage of 26.4 volts.  See http://techdigest.jhuapl.edu/td/td1902/jenkins.pdf for a description of a smaller similar battery on NEAR.

Not sure where the "2 out of 11" comes from in the status report.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nomadd on 09/11/2016 03:58 am
 It looks like 11 "battery pressure vessels" with 2 Nickle Hydrogen cells each. They're about the same as NiCds while discharging at 1.25v. If I get it, the vessel gets bypassed, so you lose 2 of 11 even though it's only 2 of 22 cells bad. I'm not sure if it's what the range numbers mean, but I think the bus is OK down to 20 volts, so they could lose three of the 11 vessels and still function, but battery life might be short because they don't hold voltage as well as NiCds while discharging. Too bad they aren't NiCds. They tend to fail as dead shorts, so they might have been able to leave them alone instead of bypassing the vessel and kept the good cell in play.
 Page 3 of http://enu.kz/repository/2009/AIAA-2009-4517.pdf.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/11/2016 03:56 pm
Today's track with STEREO-B is now passing the 7 hour point (began at 0855 UTC) and the carrier signal has been detected only twice. The first was at 0957 UTC at which time it was very faint at -180 dBm and vanished just a few minutes later. And now just a few minutes ago it was detected again,  this time at -155 dBm and is right not at -164 dBm. Based on prior history, the rotation is beginning to settle down again and should allow for more stable comms, possibly data uplink and data downlink.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 09/12/2016 11:11 pm
Quote
The carrier from Behind was detected once again by the DSN during the morning of September 10. During 3 brief TWTA sampling periods, the carrier signal had a lower peak signal of -166 dBm and a period of ~60 seconds continuously, see attached display. Subcarrier lock did not occur. While the uplink can support short critical commands, the downlink cannot support telemetry. The spacecraft was configured for a low power mode by powering off all power switching boards and loads. EA mode was enforced as to prevent the use of the HGA in C&DH standby mode.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 09/13/2016 06:14 pm
On day 255, during 2 brief TWTA sampling periods, the carrier signal was similar to yesterdays with a continuously fluctuating signal of -166 dBm to -180 dB. From the FDF Doppler analysis, the period is now ~52 seconds, and has increased 3 seconds over the last 30 hours. Subcarrier lock did not occur. While the uplink can support short critical commands, the downlink cannot support telemetry. The spacecraft was configured for a low power mode by powering off all power switching boards and loads. EA mode was enforced as to prevent the use of the HGA in C&DH standby mode.

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/data/moc_sds/ahead/data_products/moc_status_report/2016/2016_249_01%20msr.pdf
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/14/2016 04:48 pm
No more real attempts to recover STEREO-B this year:

"* Mission operations has announced that they are suspending Behind recovery
  attempts until the telemetry situation improves, sometime next year.  The
  spacecraft is now spinning at a rate of approximately once every 52 seconds,
  which allows only short commands to be uplinked, and does not support
  telemetry downlink.  Communication with the spacecraft degraded over the
  weekend.  Once a month communication attempts will resume, starting with the
  phased array attempt this weekend, Sep 16-17.  Each month will switch between
  single station and phased array attempts until recovery operations resume."

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/minutes/weekly_20160913.txt
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: david1971 on 09/14/2016 11:57 pm
No more real attempts to recover STEREO-B this year:

"* Mission operations has announced that they are suspending Behind recovery
  attempts until the telemetry situation improves, sometime next year. 

:(

What will lead to improved telemetry next year?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nomadd on 09/15/2016 12:08 am
No more real attempts to recover STEREO-B this year:

"* Mission operations has announced that they are suspending Behind recovery
  attempts until the telemetry situation improves, sometime next year. 

:(

What will lead to improved telemetry next year?
Both spacecraft are about as far away as they get right now. They'll keep getting closer to Earth, with the angle between them and the sun increasing till 2023.
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/where.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 09/15/2016 04:48 am
No more real attempts to recover STEREO-B this year:

"* Mission operations has announced that they are suspending Behind recovery
  attempts until the telemetry situation improves, sometime next year. 

:(

What will lead to improved telemetry next year?
Both spacecraft are about as far away as they get right now. They'll keep getting closer to Earth, with the angle between them and the sun increasing till 2023.
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/where.shtml
Distance is a factor, but also the direction the spacecraft is pointed.  The spin-axis to Earth angle is ~36 degrees, and the principal axis of inertia, for which BEHIND is most likely rotating about, is located in the X-Y plane inclined about 60 deg away from the +X axis toward the -Y axis.  As a result, the Earth is rotating in and out of the field of view of the +Z LGA, and at the present 1rpm spin rate, there's not enough time to get a telemetry packet through while the Earth is in view.  If the spin axis is better aligned with the Earth, the Earth stays in the field of view.  The other part of it is that the orientation of the spin axis with respect to the Sun affects how much power the solar arrays generate.  They need enough to thaw the hydrazine tank, among other things.

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/new.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Nomadd on 09/15/2016 05:09 am
No more real attempts to recover STEREO-B this year:

"* Mission operations has announced that they are suspending Behind recovery
  attempts until the telemetry situation improves, sometime next year. 

:(

What will lead to improved telemetry next year?
Both spacecraft are about as far away as they get right now. They'll keep getting closer to Earth, with the angle between them and the sun increasing till 2023.
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/where.shtml
Distance is a factor, but also the direction the spacecraft is pointed.  The spin-axis to Earth angle is ~36 degrees, and the principal axis of inertia, for which BEHIND is most likely rotating about, is located in the X-Y plane inclined about 60 deg away from the +X axis toward the -Y axis.  As a result, the Earth is rotating in and out of the field of view of the +Z LGA, and at the present 1rpm spin rate, there's not enough time to get a telemetry packet through while the Earth is in view.  If the spin axis is better aligned with the Earth, the Earth stays in the field of view.  The other part of it is that the orientation of the spin axis with respect to the Sun affects how much power the solar arrays generate.  They need enough to thaw the hydrazine tank, among other things.

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/new.shtml
The angle between the spacecraft and the sun might also be a factor. You can pick up some interesting interference 5 degrees from the sun. Maybe not so much with the big DSN dishes. at -180 dbm, you can't handle much noise.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 09/19/2016 10:11 pm
Quote
September 19, 2016

On Saturday, September 17, during an uplink array, which consisted of three 34m stations (DSS-24, 25, & 26) which provided an estimated 10.4 dB gain at the spacecraft over a standalone 34m uplink at 20 kW, 360 commands were sent for configuring the spacecraft for a low power mode by powering off excess loads, powering on all power switching boards, and ensuring the reaction wheels are powered off in a known configuration. On Sunday, September 18, during a 2nd uplink array with 70m station DSS-43 monitoring the downlink, during 2 brief TWTA sampling periods, the carrier signal was received on time with a continuously fluctuating signal of -170 dBm to -178 dBm with a period of ~45 seconds. Subcarrier lock was intermittent. While the uplink can support short critical commands, the downlink cannot support telemetry. The radio science receiver team reported a modulated downlink. As the SNR was not stable long enough for post-pass telemetry extraction, the LGA was swapped to the -Z LGA to improve SNR. This improved the carrier level by ~3 dB, with levels of -167 dBm to -174 dBm. Two telemetry frames were received. While the battery pressure was good, the temperature needs to be reduced. Daily two hour 70 m supports have been requested to prevent further battery functional degradation.

https://stereodata.nascom.nasa.gov/new.shtml
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 09/20/2016 08:24 pm
Quote
Behind Observatory Status – Low main bus voltage, 2 (#6 & 9) out of 11 battery cells are currently not functioning, attitude uncontrolled, rotating at a ~45 second period about its principal axis of inertia. Current orientation supports some solar array input; RF communications only supports uplink of short commands to an LGA. Very limited telemetry can be received at 11.7 bps from the –Z LGA. While propellant is suspected to be frozen, both propulsion tank latch valves are open, and pressure transducer #2 is not functioning. Power switching boards are on; nearly all switched loads off with TWTA in standby and IEM (avionics) on. EA mode is enabled. The battery charge rate is C/10. As the uncontrolled communications link is degrading, necessary macro sequences are being developed to allow the peak power tracker in C&DH standby mode to protect the battery. Detailed status of the recovery activities to restore operations from the Behind loss of communication anomaly, which occurred on October 1, 2014, are listed below. Active recovery operations began with the carrier detection on August 21, 2016.

• On day 261, the 10th uplink array for STEREO Behind recovery was conducted using DSS-24, 25, and 26. The uplink array was phase calibrated to provide approximate 10.4 dB gain, as compared to a single 34m station, using the Ahead observatory first for 1.9 hours then the arrayed stations were switched to point to the Behind observatory. The configuration consisted of three 34m stations at the Goldstone complex using the 80 kW, one 20 kW, and one 10 kW transmitters repeating a 3 kHz frequency acquisition sequence with the MOC sending 20 critical commands after each sweep. 360 commands were sent for configuring the spacecraft for a low power mode by powering off excess loads, powering on all power switching boards, and ensuring the reaction wheels are powered off in a known configuration.

• On day 262, the 11th uplink array for STEREO Behind recovery was conducted using DSS-24, 25, and 26. The uplink array was phase calibrated to provide approximate 10.4 dB gain, as compared to a single 34m station, using the Ahead observatory first for 1.9 hours then the arrayed stations were switched to point to the Behind observatory. The configuration consisted of three 34m stations at the Goldstone complex using the 80 kW, one 20 kW, and one 10 kW transmitters repeating a 3 kHz frequency acquisition sequence with the MOC sending 20 critical commands after each sweep. With the DSN 70m station DSS-43 monitoring the downlink and the Allen Telescope Array, during 2 brief TWTA sampling periods, the carrier signal was received on time with a continuously fluctuating signal of -170 dBm to -178 dBm with a period of ~45 seconds. Subcarrier lock was intermittent. While the uplink can support short critical commands, the downlink cannot support telemetry. The radio science receiver team reported a modulated downlink. As the SNR was not stable long enough for post-pass telemetry extraction, the LGA was swapped to the –Z LGA to improve SNR. This improved the carrier level by ~3 dB, with levels of -167 dBm to -174 dBm. Two telemetry frames were received. While the battery pressure was good, the battery temperature is high from overcharging and needs to be reduced.

https://stereodata.nascom.nasa.gov/data/moc_sds/ahead/data_products/moc_status_report/2016/2016_256_01%20msr.pdf
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 10/17/2016 09:51 pm
There have been six attempts to contact the Behind spacecraft using 70 meter stations between September 27 and October 9 without success. The last telemetry received from Behind was on September 18, and the last time the carrier wave was detected was on September 23. Recovery attempts for Behind have moved back to a monthly schedule until the spacecraft has returned to a point in its orbit where the attitude is in a favorable configuration for power and communications.

• On day 263, during the two hour support with DSS-14, after sending commands to protect the battery by setting the voltage controller to 2 and powering on additional loads (propulsion tank primary and secondary heaters), the carrier signal was unexpectedly lost after 5 minutes. It is suspected that the battery bus had collapsed however this cannot be confirmed without telemetry. While on the –Z LGA, the carrier signal was continuously fluctuating from -167 dBm to -174 dBm with a period of ~45 seconds. Subcarrier lock was intermittent. No telemetry frames were received.

• On day 264, during the two hour support with DSS-43, commands were sent for increasing the battery charge rate to C/4 and closing latch valves. The carrier signal was very low, intermittent, and carrier lock could not be maintained. After switching to the +Z LGA, no downlink signal was received. Commands were sent to the place the TWTA in standby and power on the propulsion tank primary heaters. No telemetry frames were received.

• On day 267, during the two hour support with DSS-43, a test macro containing only TWTA HV on and no-operation commands was loaded to RAM to simulate loading the larger of the two new autoexec macros, 0 (154 bytes) and 1 (190 bytes). While the actual macros 0 and 1 were loaded to the uplink buffer, they were not copied to EEPROM, since execution of the test macro failed to produce a carrier signal. The TWTA HV on command was then manually sent from the ground, but also failed to produce a carrier signal. At this point the decision was made to begin battery recovery – IEM switched power and 1553 off; TWTA to standby, primary and secondary tank and –y panel (R4) heaters on – all commands sent manually, multiple times. The battery charge rate, while temporarily set to C/4, was returned to C/10 prior to powering off the 1553. Subsequently the radio science team detected an extremely weak (~10 dB-Hz SNR) at 2200z for 15 seconds.

• On day 268, during the 3.25 hour support with DSS-26 (34 meter dish; 80 KW transmitter), multiple commands to power on the TWTA were sent shortly after BOT. Although using a 34-meter dish, carrier detection was expected, if the spacecraft was transmitting. At the expected time, no downlink carrier was detected, nor throughout the power subsystem lead’s recommended maximum ~ 4 minute TWTA on/off period. Mission Ops directed DSN to begin configuring for automated battery recovery operations (i.e. repeated multiple sweeps in a 3 kHz range). At 1557z, automated battery recovery operations commenced, with Mission Ops repeatedly commanding the following configuration through EOT - IEM switched power and 1553 off; TWTA to standby, primary and secondary tank and –y panel (R4) heaters on.

• On day 271, during the two hour support with DSS-14, no carrier was detected by the DSN after repeatedly attempting to power on the TWTA. Transitioned to battery recovery operations which consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and 1553 off, TWTA to standby, primary and secondary tank and –y panel (R4) heaters on.

• On day 274, during the 2 hour support with the 34m station DSS-26 using the 80 KW transmitter to minimize 70m contentions, 200 commands were sent for battery state of charge recovery. This consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and 1553 off, TWTA to standby, primary and secondary tank and –y panel (R4) heaters on.

• On day 276, during the two hour support with DSS-63, no carrier was detected by the DSN after repeatedly attempting to power on the TWTA first using the -Z LGA then switching to the +Z LGA.

• On day 277, during the two hour support with DSS-63, no carrier was detected by the DSN. 200 commands were sent for battery state of charge recovery. This consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off, TWTA to standby, primary and secondary tank and –y panel (R4) heaters on.

• On day 278, during the two hour support with DSS-14, no carrier was detected by the DSN. 185 commands were sent for battery state of charge recovery. This consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off. At 1530z, the transmitter lost modulation resulting in the aborting of 14 commands. The uplink was restored and command modulation was re-enabled. See DR# G117527 for more information.

• On day 280, during the two hour support with DSS-14, at 1350z, initial commanding was delayed 19 minutes due to sub reflector issue at the station. 155 commands were sent for carrier recovery. No carrier was detected by the DSN after attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes. Transitioned to battery recovery operations which consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off. See DR# G117532 for more information.

• On day 281, during a 4.5 hour support with the 34m station DSS-26 using the 80 KW transmitter to minimize 70m contentions, only 345 out of the expected 800 commands were transmitted during the support. A misconfiguration at the station prevented all commands within a block to be transmitted. Since each command block sends the same commands multiple times, the impact was minimal, other than not being able to maximize the amount of commands sent during the track. No carrier was detected by the DSN after attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes. Transitioned to battery recovery operations which consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.

• On day 282, during a 4.5 hour support with the 34m station DSS-26 using the 80 KW transmitter to minimize 70m contentions, 480 commands were transmitted during the support. No carrier was detected by the DSN after attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes. Transitioned to battery recovery operations which consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.

• On day 283, during a 5 hour support with DSS-14, 540 commands were transmitted during the support. No carrier was detected by the DSN after attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes. Transitioned to battery recovery operations which consisted of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 10/22/2016 06:36 pm
STEREO Behind (STB) Status:

Behind loss of communication anomaly occurred on October 1, 2014. Active recovery operations began with carrier detection by the DSN on August 21st, through September 23, 2016. At a spacecraft range of 2 AU, the observatory was found to be rotating slowly about its principal axis of inertia for which the uncontrolled attitude allowed some solar array input and continuous uplink and downlink communications on the LGA at emergency data rates. Over the next 22 continuous days, significant obstacles to recovery were overcome with a coordinated effort of the engineering team, NASA GSFC, DSN, FDF, SSMO scheduling, and Mission Operations teams. This consisted of:
• Reliably commanding a rotating spacecraft with uncontrolled attitude at a distance of 2 AU
• How to power on the spacecraft that was never designed to be off without collapsing the battery voltage
• Acquiring telemetry at 35 bps from a spacecraft that is rotating with an uncontrolled attitude
• Warming a frozen propulsion subsystem with a degraded battery (2 out of 11 cells not functioning) and limited solar array input with an uncontrolled attitude
• Configuring, loading, and verifying EA, C&DH, and G&C parameters and macros with very limited telemetry
• Conducting an autonomous momentum dump in the blind and transitioning to C&DH standby mode and successfully receiving telemetry indicating star tracker lock and decreasing system momentum.

However, system momentum level remained above the threshold for re-establishing attitude control with the reaction wheels. Due to the uncontrolled attitude, communication degraded and the last detection of the carrier was on September 23rd.

Behind Observatory Status – From the last telemetry received on September 18th, main bus voltage is low, 2 (#6 & 9) out of 11 battery cells are currently not functioning, attitude uncontrolled, rotating at a ~45 second period about its principal axis of inertia. While propellant is suspected to be frozen, both propulsion tank latch valves are open and pressure transducer #2 is not functioning. EA mode is enabled. The battery charge rate is C/10. Necessary macro sequences have been tested to allow the peak power tracker in C&DH standby mode to protect the battery. These macro sequences will be loaded to EEPROM when the communications supports longer commands.

Monthly recovery efforts will consist of attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes. If no carrier signal is detected, battery recovery operations will commence which consist of repeatedly sweeping a 3 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.

Meanwhile, the average daily science data return for Ahead was 5.5 Gbits during this week.

https://stereodata.nascom.nasa.gov/data/moc_sds/ahead/data_products/moc_status_report/2016/2016_284_01%20msr.pdf
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/25/2016 08:03 pm
STEREO Mission Turns 10

NASA Goddard

Published on Oct 25, 2016
Launched ten years ago, on Oct. 25, 2006, the twin spacecraft of NASA’s STEREO mission – short for Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory – have given us unprecedented views of the sun, including the first-ever simultaneous view of the entire star at once. This kind of comprehensive data is key to understanding how the sun erupts with things like coronal mass ejections and energetic particles, as well as how those events move through space, sometimes impacting Earth and other worlds. Ten years ago, the twin STEREO spacecraft joined a fleet of NASA spacecraft monitoring the sun and its influence on Earth and space – and they provided a new and unique perspective.

The two STEREO observatories, called STEREO-A and STEREO-B – for Ahead and Behind, respectively – were sent out from Earth in opposite directions. Using gravitational assists from both the moon and Earth, the STEREO spacecraft were accelerated to Earth-escape velocities. STEREO-A was inserted into an orbit slightly smaller, and therefore faster, than Earth’s. For STEREO-B, the reverse happened: It was nudged into an orbit slightly larger than Earth’s so that it traveled around the sun more slowly, falling increasingly behind the Earth. As the spacecraft slowly fanned out away from the centerline between Earth and the sun – where every other sun-watching spacecraft is located – they revealed more and more new information about our closest star.

For STEREO’s 10th anniversary, Deputy Project Scientist Terry Kucera gives an overview of the missions top 5 success stories.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space flight Center/Genna Duberstein

Music credit: Life Choices by Eric Chevalier

https://youtu.be/6CQ5w54fmFU?t=001

https://youtu.be/6CQ5w54fmFU
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/25/2016 08:04 pm
3D 4k for STEREO's 10th Anniversary

NASA Goddard

Published on Oct 25, 2016
This 3-D video can be seen with red and cyan 3-D paper glasses.

Launched ten years ago, on Oct. 25, 2006, the twin spacecraft of NASA’s STEREO mission – short for Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory – have given us unprecedented views of the sun.

In 2007, STEREO provided the first multi-viewpoint images of the sun. For the first time, scientists were able to see structures in the sun's atmosphere in three dimensions. Then, in 2011, they gave us the first-ever simultaneous view of the entire star at once. This kind of comprehensive data is key to understanding how the sun erupts with things like coronal mass ejections and energetic particles, as well as how those events move through space, sometimes impacting Earth and other worlds. Ten years ago, the twin STEREO spacecraft joined a fleet of NASA spacecraft keeping an eye on the sun and its influence on Earth and space – but they provided a new and unique perspective.

The two STEREO observatories, called STEREO-A and STEREO-B – for Ahead and Behind, respectively – were sent out from Earth in opposite directions. Using gravitational assists from both the moon and Earth, the STEREO spacecraft were accelerated to Earth-escape velocities. STEREO-A was inserted into an orbit slightly smaller, and therefore faster, than Earth’s. For STEREO-B, the reverse happened: It was nudged into an orbit slightly larger than Earth’s so that it traveled around the sun more slowly, falling increasingly behind the Earth. As the spacecraft slowly fanned out away from the centerline between Earth and the sun – where every other sun-watching spacecraft is located – they revealed more and more new information about our closest star.

This footage is from March and April 2007, when the small separation of the two spacecraft allowed a stereoscopic view of the sun similar to how human eyes perceive the world around us. These images were captured by STEREO in several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light which show different layers of the sun’s atmosphere. The number in the lower right of the video shows the wavelength of light measured in Angstroms.

Music: "Soothing" and “Serendipity" from Erstwhile
All tracks written and produced by Lars Leonhard
www.lars-leonhard.de

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger

This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12393

If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer

https://youtu.be/qR6JLMZOOYA?t=001

https://youtu.be/qR6JLMZOOYA
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/25/2016 08:05 pm
How to Read a NASA STEREO Image

NASA.gov Video

Published on Oct 25, 2016
NASA’s STEREO mission observed a coronal mass ejection on July 23, 2012 – one of the fastest CMEs on record. The video uses STEREO imagery from this rare event to describe features to pay attention to when viewing STEREO data.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/STEREO/Joy Ng, producer
Music credit: Passing Images by Andrew Britton [PRS], David Goldsmith [PRS] from the KillerTracks Catalog

This video is public domain and may be downloaded at:
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12292#60262

https://youtu.be/hknjlxWTGMo?t=001

https://youtu.be/hknjlxWTGMo
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 03/17/2017 08:28 pm
Earlier today at 1734 UTC, DSN 26 (one of the smaller dishes at Goldstone) had a signal reception from STEREO-B. I'm not sure at this point how long the signal reception lasted or if they managed any data downlink (previous contacts had been carrier only). DSN 26 was setup for STEREO-B until just a few minutes ago when it switched over to a MRO comm session.


Edit:
Checking the weekly schedule for STEREO-B this signal reception came some 11 minutes before the end of today's scheduled track on DSN-26(1745 UTC). Obviously the signal reception changed the DSN-26 schedule as it didn't change over to MRO until around 2120 UTC. There's a track scheduled for tomorrow beginning at 1315 UTC and ending at 1745 UTC using the same dish (DSN-26).


https://stereodata.nascom.nasa.gov/data/moc_sds/behind/data_products/weekly_schedule/behind_2017_100_01.ws
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 03/18/2017 01:05 pm
My apologies. I posted the wrong weekly schedule in my previous post. Here's the correct schedule: https://stereodata.nascom.nasa.gov/data/moc_sds/behind/data_products/weekly_schedule/behind_2017_072_04.ws

So yesterday's track that successfully recovered the carrier signal from STEREO-B began at 1535 UTC and ended at 2005 UTC. Today's track begins at 1450 UTC and ends at 2120 UTC. The actual carrier recovery efforts begin at 1455 UTC. Also today's efforts will be made using the big 70 m dish at Goldstone, DSN-14 which is currently busy with New Horizons.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 03/18/2017 02:05 pm
Carrier recovery has begun. There seems to have been a switch in dishes though, it is now using DSN-26, the same as yesterday.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacklevel1455 on 03/31/2017 02:48 pm
Can anyone explain why the Messenger Satellite still appears on Stereo plots?  tnx
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: brickmack on 03/31/2017 03:03 pm
What is a stereo plot? Never heard of that and google turns up nothing relevant. And do you mean MESSENGER, the Mercury probe?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacklevel1455 on 03/31/2017 03:11 pm
Goto https://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/make_where_gif
Scroll down and you are able to enter what to search for.  Messenger has a tick box, tick that and generate plot for inner solar system.  The image shows Messenger position but I cannot understand why as it crashed into Mercury. Tnx
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: eeergo on 04/03/2017 03:27 pm
It also offers the option of plotting Rosetta's and Ulysses' courses, both of which are decommissioned and/or untrackable, as well as MAVEN's cruise phase (already over). Just an out-of-date applet.


The STEREO thread (http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=2443.275) has up-to-date information about the mission (esp. B's status) if you're interested in that.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: jacklevel1455 on 04/03/2017 03:39 pm
Thanks, didn't know it was out of date.  That explains it. ta
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Sam Ho on 09/14/2017 11:06 pm
Catching up a bit, STEREO-B recovery efforts shifted to three times a week on July 11, and to daily on August 21.  Nothing detected yet, though.

Meanwhile, STEREO-A has been faithfully returning 5Gb of data every week.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 03/02/2018 07:16 pm
DSS-14 at Goldstone just had a brief carrier signal reception from STEREO-B, the first in nearly a year. This shows that the spacecraft is still alive and can be commanded. This reception came about an hour into today's signal recovery session using DSS-14.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 03/08/2018 12:26 am
DSS-14 at Goldstone just had a brief carrier signal reception from STEREO-B, the first in nearly a year. This shows that the spacecraft is still alive and can be commanded. This reception came about an hour into today's signal recovery session using DSS-14.
This was just repeated at Canberra using DSS-43. Once again the carrier AOS was brief, just 10 seconds. Time of AOS was 12:20 pm local time (0120 UTC, March 8 ).
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: DaveS on 03/08/2018 12:39 am
Brief carrier AOS again. Here’s the specs:
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: Svetoslav on 10/16/2018 07:26 am
Earlier today I saw a carrier-lock on STEREO-B.

Currently the big Madrid dish is transmitting to the spacecraft: https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: theinternetftw on 10/16/2018 08:55 pm
Earlier today I saw a carrier-lock on STEREO-B.

Currently the big Madrid dish is transmitting to the spacecraft: https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

Well if they managed it, talk about beating the buzzer.  From the plan for this week's ops: (https://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/minutes/weekly_20181009.txt)

Quote
* Search pattern recovery passes for Behind are scheduled for Monday, Oct 15th
  (battery), and on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 16th and 17th (both
  carrier).  Until further notice, these are the last recovery attempts for
  Behind.


Edit: switched link to the HTTP site to get around forum weirdness.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: RotoSequence on 03/15/2020 12:41 pm
Some unusual images from STEREO-A's wide field heliospheric imager over the past several weeks have received notice from the conspiratorial crowds, and I must admit some curiosity about them as well. The HI1 and HI2 cameras were designed to suppress internal reflections as much as possible in multiple ways (http://www.stereo.rl.ac.uk/Documents/firstHI_Instrument_Paper_Revised_v2.pdf), but I am far from confident that these are not just ghosts from the lenses. Is anyone familiar with the instruments that can verify the cause as internal reflection?

https://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2020/02/29/ahead/hi2/1024/thumbnail.shtml

Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: RotoSequence on 03/15/2020 01:14 pm
These images just make it more confusing.  :o Perhaps a comet?
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: edzieba on 03/16/2020 01:11 pm
I couldn't find images of Hi1/Hi2 assembly, but the other telescopes on STEREO (e.g. COR1 & COR2) contain cruciform baffles (and mirror mounts) that that shape, so it seems likely to be an internal reflection or a reflection from HI1's baffle.
Title: Re: NASA - STEREO updates
Post by: RotoSequence on 03/17/2020 04:16 pm
I couldn't find images of Hi1/Hi2 assembly, but the other telescopes on STEREO (e.g. COR1 & COR2) contain cruciform baffles (and mirror mounts) that that shape, so it seems likely to be an internal reflection or a reflection from HI1's baffle.

Looks like you are correct. I wish I'd seen this earlier.

https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/artifacts/artifacts_reflections.shtml