Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 21:03:31 -0400 From: Kimberly Strong To: MANTRA email list Subject: MANTRA 2002 - Saturday, August 24 Status MANTRA 2002 - Saturday, August 24 Status Greetings from Vanscoy, Today was mostly devoted to interference (RFI) tests with the gondola suspended outdoors. There were problems with the pointing system, the two FTSs, and power to the OH spectrometer. The causes of most of these have been identified and should be resolvable. Tomorrow will be spent working on instruments, and we may repeat the RFI test on Monday. Earliest launch remains Monday night, but stratospheric winds are still high although decreasing. Based on his forecasting, Yves tells us "Starting to look good for a projected launch as of the 27th possibly."! The live web camera should now be working for the outside world. It shows a new image every five minutes at the moment. Pointing System - appears to have had a software timing problem during the RFI test which can be resolved - identified cause of problem with STARS power to azimuth control during dry run (thermal fuse blew, may fly separate battery to avoid exceeding STARS 7 Amp limit) - resolved communications problem with SPS-B1 during dry run - working on software to integrate reaction wheel, add pointing modes including momentum dump, and set up automation of measurements MSC SunPhotoSpectrometer SPS-B1 - checked out successfully during RFI test - need to align on gondola and and test automated commanding from pointing system - otherwise flight ready MSC SunPhotoSpectrometer SPS-B2 - checked out successfully during RFI test - working on definition of integration times - otherwise flight ready MAESTRO-B - had a few minor glitches during RFI test - insulation complete - need to focus, calibrate, do solar measurements - need to write command format, choose integration times, and test automated commanding from pointing system U of Denver FTS - had problems during RFI test, investigating these - working on alignment issues MSC FTS - unable to receive downlink, so couldn't diagnose problems during RFI test - working on software and electronics to monitor instrument status during flight - want to add switch to share DU FTS downlink to speed up data transmission MSC OH Spectrometer - appears to have had a problem with power from CIP during the RFI test - cradle mount has been strengthened - working on optimizing the resolution, aligning the polarizer, software MSC Emission Radiometers - checked out successfully during RFI test (some effect from transponder) - ready to fly Service d'Aeronomie SAOZ - checked out successfully during RFI test - ready to fly Main Payload Sondes - UV sonde, ozonesonde, aerosol backscatter sonde checked out successfully during RFI test - need to test communications between pointing system and ozonesonde - otherwise flight ready Ozonesondes - 8th launch this morning with small Totex balloon, reached ~5 mbar Ground-based MSC Brewer - continuing direct sun measurements Ground-based York U AOTF spectromter - continuing zenith-sky measurements - working on automation software Ground-based U of T zenith-sky spectrometer - continuing zenith-sky measurements - working on polar alignment and tracking with telescope Ground-based MSC SPS-G - continuing direct sun and zenith-sky measurements Overall schedule: Sunday August 25 - follow-up on actions from RFI tests, instrument preparations and testing Monday August 26 - hanging test with crane, instrument preparations, possibly repeat RFI test Monday, August 26 - flight ready All for now. Kim ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Kimberly Strong, Associate Professor Department of Physics, University of Toronto Room MP 710A, 60 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A7, Canada Telephone: (416) 946-3217, Fax: (416) 978-8905 Email: strong@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/ http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/people/strong/strong.html ----------------------------------------------------------------