Astronomy News
GOES-12 Update #12
GOES-12 has undergone a successful anti-ice decontamination of the imager, and is slated to return to imaging and sounding on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 1500 UTC. At this time, GOES-12 will be placed on an Image and Navigation Recovery (INR) schedule (19 minute Full Disk scans at XX:15 and XX:45, CONUS Soundings at XX:46). The length of the INR recovery schedule will depend on the successful INR recovery of GOES-12. GOES-13 will be maintained as GOES-East through the GOES-12 INR recovery period.
For users pointing directly to GOES-12 and obtaining GOES-13 GVAR: At 1500 UTC on 1/5/09, GOES-12 GVAR will commence directly from GOES-12, but image navigation and registration may be out of desired specifications for a period of time. Users may want to consider adjusting their antennae to obtain GVAR directly from GOES-13.
** ESPC will continue to produce operational GOES-East product from GOES-13 (Remapper, GINI/AWIPS, radiances, derived products, interpretive products) during the GOES-12 INR recovery. ESPC will monitor GOES-12 data, and if INR recovery is successful, switch GOES-East operations back to GOES-12 on or about Tuesday, January 6 at 1500 UTC. **
GOES-12 will be maintained at Midnight Black Body Calibration Correction (MBCC) Mode 1 (instant averaging) until Thursday, January 8th when SOCC will switch calibration mode back to MBCC Mode 3 (4 day averaging). SOCC reports a 10-20 percent signal gain on GOES-12 following the successful decontamination.
GOES-12 Update #11
UPDATE #11 12/29/2008 @ 1930 UTC
OSO/SOCC will perform a decontamination of the GOES-12 imager starting on January 2, 2009 at approx. 17:00 UTC for a period of 48 hours. If decontamination is successful, GOES-12 will resume imaging and sounding schedules on January 5. GOES-12 images will be calibrated with Mode 1 for the first-order gains PLUS with the MBCC inactivated till January 12, 2009. During this period, the impact on the users products, if there is any, will be mainly confined in the 6-hour time window centered at 05:00Z (the GOES-12 midnight time).
Details are yet to be finalized, but there will likely be a day of INR (Image Navigation and Registration) recovery on January 5 where data from GOES-12 may be poorly navigated, and users may desire to repoint their antenna to GOES-13 during that time period. Products from ESPC (including for AWIPS production) may stay on GOES-13 for that time period until imagery from GOES-12 is deemed stable for product generation. In addition, products will be closely monitored following the aforementioned decontamination of the GOES-12 imager.
ESPC Operations will be running in the current configuration until further notice. GOES-13 GVAR data will continue to be sent out to users via both GOES-12 and GOES-13. Broadcast services of LRIT, EMWIN, and DCS are being routed through GOES-12. GOES-East direct broadcast users may want to adjust their antennas to obtain data directly from GOES-13.
Data Affected by the Outage:
All products from GOES-12
Date and Time of the Outage:
2218 UTC , 5:18 pm EST
Length of the Outage:
Unknown
Contact Point for Questions:
ESPC Operations OCL (Operation Crew Leader)
GOES-12 Update #10
UPDATE #10 12/22/2008 @ 2220 UTC
For the thruster problems on GOES-12,SOCC (Satellite Operations Control Center) engineers continue to monitor GOES-12 for its performance.
TENTATIVE PLANS for GOES-12 recovery are to take place no earlier than the week of January 5, 2009.
Details are yet to be finalized, but there will likely be a day of INR (Image Navigation and Registration) recovery where data from GOES-12 may be poorly navigated, and as able, users may desire to repoint their antenna to GOES-13 during that time period. Products from ESPC (including for AWIPS production) may stay on GOES-13 for that time period until imagery from GOES-12 is deemed stable for product generation.
There are no current plans to move GOES-13 from its current location at 105 West.
In the meantime, ESPC Operations will be running in the current configuration until further notice. GOES-13 GVAR data will continue to be sent out to users via both GOES-12 and GOES-13. Broadcast services of LRIT, EMWIN, and DCS are being routed through GOES-12. GOES-East direct broadcast users may want to adjust their antennas to obtain data directly from GOES-13.
An update will be provided as details of the recovery are made available, or sooner if conditions warrant.
Phoenix Set to Land May 25th
Credit: NASA
WASHINGTON -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is preparing to end its long journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls of Martian soil and buried ice. The lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet May 25.
