ACE Weekly ACE Weekly 09/04/2012 - 09/10/2012 All ACE spacecraft subsystems are performing as expected. ======================================================================== Orbit/Attitude: Type Attitude Date 09/06/2012 DOY 250 2012 Thrusters 2R 4R+ 4R- Duration 14:31 min Start 14:10:25z Stop 14:24:56z HGAStart -4.89deg HGAStop +9.11deg SunStart 14.81deg SunStop 4.90deg SpinStart 5.0590rpm SpinStop 5.0619rpm Nutation 0.04deg Firing 74 pulses FuelUsed 0.2267lbs FuelRemain 119.7324lbs FinalSCMass 1353.992lbs The next attitude maneuver is scheduled for Monday 09/24/2012. This attitude maneuver targeted an High Gain Antenna (HGA) angle of 9 degrees so that the next maneuver could be done on Monday 9/24 instead of Friday 9/21. The downlink SNR was +7dB which is in line with the spacecraft's high gain antenna performance. Around 9 degrees, the antenna performance drops ~2dB/degree. But between 10 and 11 degrees, the antenna performance drops off precipitously (~5db/degree). The policy of occasionally targeting 9 degrees to extend the next maneuver beyond a weekend was implemented in March 2012. This was done to reduce the number of maneuvers needed to be performed. The SWEPAM instrument team has a proposal to keep the spacecraft at higher sun angles. Targeting 9 degrees for every maneuver can increase the average sun angle by ~1 degree. In that scenario, the benefits are enough to justify a 9 degree target for every maneuver, if the SWEPAM proposal is approved. In the meantime, the option to target 9 degrees has been submitted for Mission Director approval to provide more data on the downlink signal strength for consideration of the SWEPAM proposal. ======================================================================== OCRs: None ======================================================================== Activities: Data Capture: 100% DOY 246-253 2012 At the end of last week's reporting period, the ULEIS shutter had autonomously closed due to solar activity. It re-opened at the beginning of this week's reporting period, the reopening will be reported in next week's report Mon Sep 3 2012, DOY 247 10:35:10z closed to 25% Mon Sep 3 2012, DOY 247 12:41:02z closed to 6% Tue Sep 4 2012, DOY 248 12:09:02z opened to 25% Wed Sep 4 2012, DOY 249 02:54:22z opened to 100% ======================================================================== Anomalies: None