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GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

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18 FEBRUARY 2005—GRAVITY PROBE B MISSIONUPDATEMission Elapsed Time: 304 days (43 weeks/10.0 months)Science Data Collection: 175 days (25 weeks/5.75 months)Current Orbit #: 4,486 as of 2:00 PM PSTSpacecraft General Health: GoodRoll Rate: Normal at 0.7742 rpm (77.5 seconds per revolution)Dewar Temperature: 1.82 Kelvin, holding steadyCommand & Data Handling (CDH): Multi-bit errors (MBE): 0, Singlebiterrors (SBE): 4,704 (daily average)This past week was again a relatively quiet one for <strong>GP</strong>-B. Solar flareactivity is low, and solar radiation levels are normal. Guide starcapture times (time required to re-lock the telescope onto the guidestar as the spacecraft emerges from behind the Earth each orbit) areaveraging approximately one minute, which is excellent. Thebrightness table was updated for two of the stars that are monitored bythe spacecraft’s star trackers, and this significantly improved the startracker’s performance. Brightness tables for other stars in the startracker catalog will be updated next week.To determine how much helium is currently left in the dewar, the <strong>GP</strong>-B dewar team is in the process of performing another heat pulse meteroperation. The heat pulse test works in the following way: The amountof heat that it takes to warm an object by a specified amount dependson the type of material, its temperature, and its mass. Thus, if the“specific heat” (the amount of heat needed to warm a kilogram ofmaterial by one degree Kelvin) is known, it is a simple matter tomeasure the mass by applying a known amount of heat (usually withan electric heater) and measuring the resultant temperature rise.Star Sensor Magnitude Update was run Thursday to adjust thecataloged magnitude of star 173. As of Tuesday, updates of observedmagnitude of stars 50 and 173 were successful. Other stars’magnitudes may be updated.Two separate communications issues at Poker Flat, AK (2hr40m) andWallops Ground Station (2hr50m) caused brief outages of data. All thedata was recovered from Alaska; Wallops data was unrecoverable.Since the start of the mission, the <strong>GP</strong>-B team has successfully collected99.0% of the data (requirement is 90%).4 MARCH 2005—GRAVITY PROBE B MISSIONUPDATEMission Elapsed Time: 318 days (45 weeks/10.5 months)Science Data Collection: 189 days (27 weeks/6.25 months)Current Orbit #: 4,694 as of 2:00 PM PSTSpacecraft General Health: GoodRoll Rate: Normal at 0.7742 rpm (77.5 seconds per revolution)Dewar Temperature: 1.82 Kelvin, holding steadyCommand & Data Handling (CDH): Multi-bit errors (MBE): 0, Singlebiterrors (SBE): 8,198 (daily average)In the case of the <strong>GP</strong>-B dewar, the situation is simplified by the factthat heat distributes itself virtually instantaneously throughoutsuperfluid helium. The amount of heat used in the test must be largeenough to cause a measurable temperature change (approximately 10millikelvin) but not so large as to appreciably shorten the missionlifetime.The dewar team expects to complete their analysis of the heat pulsedata next week, and we will report the results in next week’s update.Our current expectation is that the science phase of the mission willconclude towards the end of June, and the results of the heat pulsemeter operation will help us determine whether or not the currentmission time line is correct.25 FEBRUARY 2005—GRAVITY PROBE B MISSIONUPDATEMission Elapsed Time: 311 days (44 weeks/10.25 months)Science Data Collection: 182 days (26 weeks/6.0 months)Current Orbit #: 4,589 as of 2:00 PM PSTSpacecraft General Health: GoodRoll Rate: Normal at 0.7742 rpm (77.5 seconds per revolution)Dewar Temperature: 1.82 kelvin, holding steadyCommand & Data Handling (CDH): Multi-bit errors (MBE): 0, Singlebiterrors (SBE): 9,937 (daily average)Three activities occupied our attention this past week:The Heat Pulse Meter Operation (HPMO), used to determine heliumin the dewar, occurred as scheduled on Wednesday night, 16-February. Preliminary analysis has been concluded and a sub-systemlevel review is in progress.Guide star capture times have improved to the one-minute range aftergyro biases were updated on all three axes. This is a typical adjustmentof the positioning gyroscopes on the satellite (which are different thanthe science gyros) that is required due to the influence of the Sun as<strong>GP</strong>-B orbits the Earth. These adjustments allow the satellite to morequickly re-focus, or “capture”, the guide star as it emerges from theEarth's eclipse on each orbit.11 MARCH 2005—GRAVITY PROBE B MISSIONUPDATEMission Elapsed Time: 325 days (46 weeks/10.75 months)Science Data Collection: 196 days (28 weeks/6.50 months)Current Orbit #: 4,767 as of 2:00 PM PSTSpacecraft General Health: GoodRoll Rate: Normal at 0.7742 rpm (77.5 seconds per revolution)Dewar Temperature: 1.83 kelvin, decreasing slowlyCommand & Data Handling (CDH): Now using B-side (backup)computer & guidance systemsMulti-bit errors (MBE): 0, Single-bit errors (SBE): 7 (daily average)The switch-over to the backup systems occurred automatically at 7:17am PST last Friday morning, 4 March 2005, due to two or more multibiterrors (MBE’s) in the flight computer, occurring within a 0.2second interval. The MBEs were caused by radiation hits in the south<strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B — <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Flight</strong> Analysis • Final <strong>Report</strong> March 2007 497

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