From strong@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Thu Aug 24 20:14:58 2000 Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 20:14:00 -0400 From: Kimberly Strong To: MANTRA email list Subject: MANTRA 2000 - August 24 status Greetings from Vanscoy, MANTRA 2000 Current Status as of Thursday, August 24, 2000 (the second anniversary of the MANTRA 1998 launch) Dry run: - successfully completed this afternoon with no major problems - 2 hours 40 minutes from on station to ready to do helium fill Pointing system: - estimate ~15 hours work on software remain + ~5 hours hanging test with crane SunPhotoSpectrometer: - vacuum test of the backup SPS completed successfully - remaining tasks: lamp calibration of backup SPS, integrate scan table into uplink code Emission Radiometers - foil eliminated previous problem with RF interference from beacon - blackbody flap stopped working during dry run - needs to be fixed Star Camera: - flight ready Sondes: - third ozonesonde launch at 9 AM this morning, but reel unravelled and payload fell to ground soon after launch Planned Flight Schedule - Friday - pointing system work, SPS calibration - Saturday - hanging tests with crane - Saturday evening - earliest flight readiness - Sunday morning - possible launch pending flight readiness and winds Winds - Calgary office of Environment Canada forecasts higher winds for Saturday night/Sunday morning Ground-Based Brewer Spectrophotometer - continues to make ozone and UV measurements Ground-Based Zenith-Sky Grating Spectrometer - twilight measurements continuing - continuing to optimize parameters and make calibration measurements Ground-Based AOTF Spectrometer - twilight measurements continuing Cheers, Kim ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Kimberly Strong, Assistant 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------