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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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C.5 Instrument Calibration Phase: 8/19/05 – 9/30/0519 AUGUST 2005—GRAVITY PROBE B MISSIONUPDATEMission Elapsed Time: 486 days (69 weeks/ 16 months)IOC Phase: 129 days (4.2 months)Science Phase: 352 days (11.6 months)Final Calibration Phase: 5 daysCurrent Orbit #: 7,169 as of 1:00PM PSTSpacecraft General Health: GoodRoll Rate: Normal at 0.7742 rpm (77.5 seconds per revolution)Gyro Suspension System (GSS): Drag-free off during calibrationphaseDewar Temperature: 1.82 kelvin, holding steadyGlobal Positioning System (<strong>GP</strong>S) lock: Greater than 98.0%Attitude & Translation Control (ATC): X-axis attitude error: 166.9marcs rmsY-axis error: 254.5 marcs rmsCommand & Data Handling (CDH): B-side (backup) computer incontrolMulti-bit errors (MBE): 1 (in GSS#1 Computer on 8/17/05)Single-bit errors (SBE): 10 (daily avg.)As of Mission Day 486, the <strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B vehicle and payload arein good health and all subsystems are performing nominally.The final calibration phase officially began at 6:26am (PST) onMonday when the drag-free gyro (Gyro #1) was transitioned to “dragfreeoff.” After setting the gyro preloads to the IOC levels of 10V(Initialization & Orbit Checkout Phase), we maneuvered the spacevehicle to point at HD216235, a star one degree away from the guidestar. On Tuesday, we returned to the guide star and resumed drag-freeoperation. On Wednesday and Friday, we are repeating thesemaneuvers to the neighboring star (HD216235). The aim of thesecalibrations is to place tight constraints on potential systematic errors.The calibrations are scheduled to be completed by 31 August. Withany remaining helium, further calibrations will be performed at adifferent spacecraft roll rate.DR. NANCY ROMAN VISITS <strong>GP</strong>-BTwo notable events related to <strong>GP</strong>-B occurred this past week. First, thispast Tuesday and Wednesday, we were honored with a visit from Dr.Nancy Roman, one of the nation's leading scientists in the spaceprogram.Roman received her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University ofChicago in 1949. She began her career doing astronomy research instellar distances and motions at the University of Chicago's YerkesObservatory and also teaching graduate courses there. In 1959, Romanjoined NASA, and from 1960-1979, she served as Chief of theAstronomy and Relativity Programs in the NASA Office of SpaceScience. In her position at NASA, Roman was very influential increating astronomical research satellites such as the CosmicBackground Explorer (COBE) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).On Monday, 15 August 2005, the <strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B mission concludedthe science phase of the mission and transitioned to the finalcalibration phase of the mission. In total, the mission collected sciencedata for 352 days (11.6 months) during its 7,000+ orbits around theEarth with an extremely high data capture rate for that time (99.0%).She also oversaw the development of a number of ground and spaceresearch programs, including <strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B. In fact, Roman helpedorganize a NASA-sponsored two-day seminar, held at <strong>Stanford</strong> in July1961, in which over 30 distinguished physicists, engineers, andaerospace experts from all over the U.S. gathered to discuss thepossibilities of testing Einstein's theories of relativity in space. Some ofthe ideas discussed at that seminar—most notably the concept of adrag-free satellite—are currently being used in the <strong>GP</strong>-B mission.After retiring from NASA in 1979, Dr. Roman continued working as a<strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B — <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Flight</strong> Analysis • Final <strong>Report</strong> March 2007 511

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