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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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Alpha Pegasi, Zeta Pegasi, HR Pegasi, IM Pegasi, and HD 216635—allthe stars in the neighborhood of IM Pegasi that we have visitedrecently.Last Tuesday, 13 September, we visited the very bright (magnitude2.45) neighboring star Alpha Pegasi (also known as Markab or HD218045), located about 3.25 degrees south of IM Pegasi. We remainedlocked on Alpha Pegasi for 12 hours. Upon returning to returning toIM Pegasi. We switched drag-free control back to gyro #1.Then, last Wednesday, we sent commands to the spacecraft todecrease its roll rate from 0.7742 rpm (77.5 seconds per revolution) to0.4898 rpm (122.5 seconds per revolution). This resulted in someinterference with a SQUID calibration signal, and the frequency of thecalibration signal was subsequently changed, eliminating this issue.The spacecraft has since been performing nominally at the slower rollrate.Finally, today, we initiated procedures to de-fluxing the SQUIDS—that is, removing electromagnetic flux from the SQUIDs by heatingthem up a few kelvins, and then allowing them to cool back down totheir normal cryogenic operating temperature of 1.8 kelvin. Assumingthat we still have helium remaining this weekend and next week, thisprocess is a prelude to performing several gyro housing explorationtests, followed by a switch from backup to primary drag-free mode.<strong>GP</strong>-B MISSION NEWS—RUNNING ON EMPTY, AND VISITINGTHE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE CONSTELLATION PEGASUSIf you drive a car, you have likely experienced—at least once—thesituation where the needle on your car's gas gage moves into the redzone, and the light comes on indicating that the gas tank is nearlyempty. But, unless you've been in this situation a few times with anyparticular car, you don't know for sure how much farther you candrive before the engine finally sputters and stops running. This isessentially the situation with our <strong>GP</strong>-B spacecraft right now. We knowthat we're in the “red zone” with our helium very nearly depleted, buthow many more orbits will actually be sustained is basically anyone'sguess.And so, continuing our prioritized calibration tests, last week wevisited the star Alpha Pegasi (aka Markab/HD 218045/ HR 8781),located about 3.25 degrees southward of IM Pegasi. Alpha Pegasi isone of the defining stars in the constellation Pegasus, the flying horse.It is approximately 110 light years away, and its luminosity is about 95times greater than our Sun. In fact, the designation of “Alpha” Pegasimeans that it is the brightest star in the constellation Pegasus. A set ofcomposite photos from the Palomar Observatory Sky Surveys (POSSIand POSSII) accompanying this week's Mission News story on ourWeb site clearly show the comparative luminosity or brightness ofAt this time of year in North America, the constellation Pegasus isclearly visible above the Eastern horizon during the evening hours, asshown in the sky charts accompanying this week's Mission News onour <strong>GP</strong>-B Web site.As we noted last week, as long as we still have helium in the dewar, wewill continue working our way through our prioritized list ofcalibration tests. When the helium actually does run out, we will post anotice on our Web site and send out a message to the subscribers ofour <strong>GP</strong>-B Update email list. NASA will also issue a news release, andwe will then post the content of that release on our Web site and sendit to our email subscribers.23 SEPTEMBER 2005—GRAVITY PROBE B MISSIONUPDATEMission Elapsed Time: 521 days (74 weeks/ 17.08 months)—IOC Phase: 129 days (4.2 months)—Science Phase: 352 days (11.6 months)—Final Calibration Phase: 40 daysCurrent Orbit #: 7,688 as of 4:00PM PSTSpacecraft General Health: GoodRoll Rate: Normal at 0.4898 rpm (2.04 minutes per revolution)Gyro Suspension System (GSS): All 4 gyros digitally suspendedDewar Temperature: Not AvailableGlobal Positioning System (<strong>GP</strong>S) lock: Greater than 99.4%Attitude & Translation Control (ATC): 128.0 marcsY-axis error: 170.8 marcsCommand & Data Handling (CDH): B-side (backup) computer incontrolMulti-bit errors (MBE): 1 (in GSS#3 computer on 9/23)Single-bit errors (SBE): 7 (daily average)Telescope Readout (TRE): NominalGyro #1 Drag-free Status: Backup Drag-free mode (OFF during somecalibration maneuvers)On Mission Day 521, the <strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B vehicle and payload remainin good health, with all subsystems performing nominally. We stillhave some helium in the dewar, and the spacecraft is flying drag-freearound Gyro #1.<strong>Gravity</strong> <strong>Probe</strong> B — <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Flight</strong> Analysis • Final <strong>Report</strong> March 2007 517

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