POLAR Telecon Agenda for May 6, 2005

Agenda:

0. Upcoming Polar Telecon

1. Senior Review

2. Operations:

        Sun Angle Maneuver

        Tape Recorder Servo Errors

3. MFE Data Processing Status

4. Polar/TIMAS Science Presentation

 

0.  Upcoming Polar Telecons

Friday, May 6, 2005

4 pm ET, 3 pm CT, 2 pm MT, 1 pm PT

PIs and their designated representatives will be telephoned at their usual numbers.

Other participants may call in at: 1-800-857-6553, password POLAR TELECON

(Leader: John Sigwarth)

 

The web site for the final agenda will be:

http://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/polar/telecons/2005May06/

 

Future Polar Telecon

Friday, June 24, 2005

Future Telecon Science Discussion Schedule

[Errors/omissions/preferences to: nicola.fox@jhuapl.edu

June 24, 2005:  HYDRA

July 2005: MFE

Aug 2005: CEPPAD

Sep 2005: TIDE

Oct 2005: PIXIE

Nov 2005: SEPS

Jan 2005: UVI

Feb 2005: MDI

Mar 2006: CAMMICE

Apr 2006: VIS

May 2006: EFI

 

1. Senior Review

NASA HQ has announced that a Senior Review will be held for operating missions, including Polar, in the sun solar system connection program.  The Senior Review will be held the week of November 14 with the proposals due the first week in October.  Directions for responding to the Senior Review will be distributed by Chuck Holmes in early May.  Chuck indicated that NASA management recognizes that there is a problem in the budget for the operating missions and that the problem needs to be addressed.  The Polar Senior Review Proposal will need to address the key issues identified in the strategic roadmap process and how the current and planned observations by Polar have strategic value within this context.  Funding from other sources will be used to maintain operation of the current fleet through the senior review process. 

2. Operations

If you have any concerns about Polar operations, please contact Nicky Fox (nicola.fox@jhuapl.edu)

Sun Angle Maneuver

The Polar Team successfully executed an attitude adjustment (#6) maneuver. The commands to start the maneuver were on time at 18:59:51.2z and the FOT verified 68 pulses. The thrusters performed nominally and the target sun angle has been achieved. We are now at the sun angle that was expected following the maneuver in March (Sun angle predictions and observations).  The spurious nutation of the spacecraft which was observed between some pulses on November 10, 2004 was not a factor during this maneuver.

It appears that the reason we did not reach the expected sun angle in March was due to an error in the pre-maneuver predicts and not due to thruster performance. The post-maneuver report for March shows that the thrusters performed at the expected efficiency as they have throughout the mission so far. It is estimated that today's maneuver did not cost us any unexpected additional fuel since the quantity used today would have been expended during the March maneuver had the predicts been correct.

The next Polar maneuver is tentatively scheduled for 11/14/2005.

 

Polar Tape Recorder Servo Errors

The remaining Polar tape recorder is continuing to experience servo errors at the start of the playback.  The engineers at L3 Communications, the tape recorder manufacturer, recommended “stacking” the tape recorder.  This involves fast forwarding the entire length of the tape and then rewinding.  This should result in a tighter winding of the tape on the spindle.  Since the stacking of the tape recorder, the number of servo errors has increased from one every few days to around one per day.  The tape recorder manufacturer has seen this problem on other missions with lifespans similar to that of Polar.  These missions have continued operation for many years after the advent of the servo errors.  It should be emphasized that no data has been lost from Polar due to the servo errors.

 

3. MFE Data Processing Status Update

Polar/MFE processing status

 

4. The 2006 Senior Review Proposal

Approach

In order to make the proposal thrust different from previous years, one suggestion has been to stress “System Science” i.e. we are no longer trying to show what we can do as an individual mission, but more how we are crucial to the Sun-Earth system studies as a whole. We want to look for synergy with Cluster and other geospace missions, and also try to bring in studies involving solar missions – can we pursue something with reconnection in the magnetosphere and in the corona for example? We also need to ensure that our science goals are clearly identified within the Research Focus Areas being defined by the SSSC Foundation Roadmap team.

Candidate topics for new science

- Auroral acceleration region

- Long-term Radiation Belts Statistics (expand current knowledge to include the declining phase of the Solar Cycle).

- Revisiting the cusp with high temporal resolution

- Configuration of magnetospheric system

- Conjugate Studies with Polar and other missions

. Orbit plots

. EFI Science presentation to the Polar Telecon in April

Other suggestions for candidate science topics

- End to end energetic particle studies

- Inputs to Earth climate

Accomplishments section 

- Structure the accomplishments section against what we proposed last time. (This should also help us to identify where we can go next)

- Exploring Interhemispherical Asymmetries: Quantify the fundamental magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes influenced and controlled by interhemispherical asymmetries.

- Approach to Solar Minimum: Understand inner magnetosphere particle acceleration and transport associated with high-speed solar wind streams.

- Understanding the Microphysics of Plasmas: Obtain new understanding of the ion and electron diffusion regions, solitary wave structures, and the role of small scale field structures.

- Impact of the Ionosphere on Geospace Processes: Exploit Polar’s new position in the SEC fleet to quantify the variable electromagnetic linkage between the solar and the ionosphere along with its reactive energy that introduces new dynamics into the system

Also need to include information on how many other people use Polar data – how many SR&T, TR&T and GI grants use Polar data

 

Tentative schedule and assignments

Polar Senior Review Development Schedule:

 

May 6: Polar PI telecon

May 6-May 13: Skeleton Draft

May 13-20: writing assignments, formation of Red Team

May 23-27: AGU meeting in New Orleans (can we get together)

 

June 1-24: Draft 1 (circulated 20^th), Polar PI Telecon 24^th)

June 27-July 1: Draft 1 to red team for concept/structure review??

June 27-July 1: GEM meeting in Santa Fe (can we get together)

 

July 5-11: Draft 2 (circulated 11^th, Polar PI Telecon 14^th)

 

July 15-August 5: Draft 3 (circulated August 1^st, Polar PI Telecon 5^th)

July18-29: IAGA meeting in Toulouse, France

 

August 6-14: Draft 4

August 15: Draft 4 sent to Red Team

August 22-23: Red Team Review

August 25: Polar PI Telecon

 

August 26-September 5: Draft 5 (circulated 5^th)

 

September 12-19: Draft 6 to PI team for last review/editing, Polar telecon (16^th)

September 20-26: final formatting, proofing

September 27-30: Printing and delivery

 

5. Polar/TIMAS Science Presentation