SOHO-TIMED EUV Calibration Flights

October / November 2006

36.236 Launched and was sucessfully recovered on November 7. 2006 at 19:30UT

My sincere thanks to everybody who helped to make this another sucessful flight of the SOHO-SEM calibration instruments.

36.236US and 36.233US

Scheduled for a dual launch in October 2006 from WSMR, these flights provide a unique opportunity to inter calibrate 3 sets of EUV solar spectrometers (possibly 4 if GOES-N EUVS is operating). The TIMED-SEE and SDO-EVE instruments will fly on 36.233US integrated by the University of Colorado LASP team, and the SOHO-SEM package will fly on 36.236US from USC. Both launches will occur on the same day within a few hours of each other, and under fly the TIMED satellite.

Current Launch estimate:

Due to poor weather both launch windows on Oct 24th. were scrubbed. Range control rescheduled launches for NASA 36.233 and 36.236 for Sat Oct 28. 36.233 launched successfully on October 28. But a last minute telemetry problem caused the scrub of 36.236.

On October 24th. the payload and telemetry systems of 36.236 were removed from the rail. The TM section was split from the PL section and NSROC tested the TM section. The problem was traced to the relay that switches between the antenna used for flight and the link used for ground testing. A new relay has been tested and installed. The payload is back on the rail and we are ready to go again!

weather radar map

36.233US LAUNCHED Oct. 28, 2006 at 11:58 MDT. (17:58 UT)

Instruments:

36.233 (LASP):

The LASP rocket will fly an XPS from the TIMED-SEE suite, and the EVE payload comprising MEGS-A, MEGS-B, MEGS-P, SAM and ESP. THe LASP rocket will also fly a Lyman Alpha Imager (1064 x 1066) — CLASSIC (Colorado Lyman Alpha Student Solar Imaging CCD). A soft X-ray avalanche photodiode spectrometer AXS contributed by Scott Bailey.

More details of the LASP rockets are available on their rockets pages.

36.236 (USC):

The USC payload comprises an SEM, HDC, RGIC, Photodiode EUV and X-ray monitors, and a commercial X-ray spectrometer as an experimental instrument.

More info on the payload can be found "here"(pdf), and on the SEM data "here"(pdf).

Both:

Both payloads wil lhave live-feed video-cameras,

WSMR has very kindly agreed to provide live video which can be found on the "live-stream link" at: http://www.wsmr.army.mil//Videos/WSMR/HomePage.htm

My sincere thanks to everybody who worked to make that possible, as it will make my life much simpler on launch day!

Status:

	36.233	36.236
MIC		2/8/2006
MRD		3/23/2006
Calibration at NIST	XPS MEGS and ESP	7/2006
SHIP to WSMR
I&T
MRR	10/17/2006	10/19/2006
Launch	10/28/2006	11/7/2006
SHIP home	10/30/2006	11/8/2006

Launch Windows:

With a dual launch timing the flights is important. Both payloads have separate constrains on the launch time as well as restrictions due to the magnetic exclusion of the guidance system. The requirements in our case is to launch within 1.5 hrs of local solar noon, at a time when the TIMED satellite is also taking data. For the present campaign that limits us to flying at the end of October 2006. The chart below shows the exclusions in red. As TIMED is flying in a low earth orbit (and therefore subject to orbital decay), the exact orbital parameters will not be known until a few weeks before launch. Therefore the exact time of launch and the order of flights can not be set until then.

Due to the scrub of 36.236 the launch window will now be determined purely by the best time to acquire data which is as close to local solar noon as possible, and within ± 1½ hr. of LSN. There are SOHO “keyhole” events due to High Gain Antenna pointing issues so we will not launch between from 23 Nov. 2006 – 14 Dec. to ensure we have good data from SOHO-SEM. There is also a transit of Mercury on November 8, and a SOHO-MDI campaign on November 10 – November 13, that would limit the support available from SOHO.

Maneuvers:

Contacts:

36.233 Phil Chamberlin: phil.chamberlin"at"lasp.colorado.edu

36.236 Andrew Jones: arjones"at"usc.edu

Last Update: November 13, 2006