Mars Express Bistatic Radar Experiment Operations Plan and Report 25 April 2010 Summary ======= DSN Antenna: 43 Pass: N/A Orbit: 8085 Orbit Start Time: 2010-04-25T07:40:38 HGA Pointing: Specular Start Mid Point End -------- ---------- -------- Specular Condition (ERT): 09:15 09:45 10:12 Target Latitude (deg N): -19.81 -27.55 -37.47 Longitude (deg E): 232.61 227.39 224.79 Rp (km): 3394. 3394. 3394. Incidence/Reflection Angle (deg): 38.10 45.28 54.74 Slant Range (km): 9397. 8118. 6600. Slew Angle (deg): 103.79 89.44 70.51 Doppler (carrier, fd; Hz): -37906. -42931. -44808. Doppler (echo, fr; Hz): 13077. 17757. 19153. Doppler Difference (fdd; Hz): -50983. -60687. -63960. Earth-Mars Distance (m): 1.848E+11 1.848E+11 1.848E+11 NB: The DSN is no longer routinely using pass numbers; so this entry in the summary will not be maintained in this and future reports. Experiment Set Up ================= This experiment was conducted using the Canberra DSS 43, the first experiment at that complex since 2008/060. Danny Kahan and Gene Goltz were in the Radio Science Support Area (RSSA) at JPL. This report is largely based on notes provided by Kahan and Goltz. Performance Problems and Notes ============================== There was a problem configuring the S-Band RCP and LCP during the mini-cals; there is no MINICAL #1 on S-LCP. But this was fixed at step 4 of the second mini-cal, and everything went smoothly after that. Data Acquisition ================ RSRs were configured as in Table 1. Table 1 ---------------------------------------------------- RSR Channel Mode ATT FGAIN Operator dB ----- ------- ---- ---- ----- ---------------------- RSR1A S-LCP 1-W auto 60 UNK RSR1B X-LCP 1-W auto 60 UNK RSR2A S-RCP 1-W auto 60 UNK RSR2B X-RCP 1-W auto 60 UNK RSR subchannels (SCHAN) were defined as follows: Table 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subchannel Sample Rate Comments ---------- ----------- --------------------------------------------- 1 2 ksps Occultation bandwidth (not recorded for BSR) 2 8 ksps Occultation backup (not recorded for BSR) 3 25 ksps Primary recording bandwidth 4 100 ksps Backup recording Table 3 lists ADC amplitude levels read from RSR displays during the experiment. Times are in UTC and should be considered approximate. "Steps" are as defined in the briefing message. RSR ATT settings are in units proportional to dB. Acronyms and abbreviations are explained after Table 3. Table 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Activity Time Step # S-LCP X-LCP S-LCP X-RCP Notes / Comments 2010/115 RSR1A RSR1B RSR2A RSR2B -------- ----- --------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------------------------ FGAIN 06:10 60 60 60 65 Set FGAIN Pre-Cal 06:51 1 -7.9 -14.2 -15.5 -13.0 ADC amplitude (dB) 06:52 att auto -9.7 -9.9 -10.0 -9.7 19.5 15.5 9.5 12.5 Attenuator settings (dB) 06:53 2 -10.0 -0.1 -10.0 -0.0 06:55 3 -1.6 -0.1 -10.0 -0.1 06:56 "4,5" -1.6 -0.1 -0.5 -0.1 06:59 att auto -9.9 -9.8 -9.6 -9.8 AMB load phys temps: S1=20.81 S2=21.25 X1=19.06 29.0 28.0 20.5 25.0 Attenuator settings (dB) Local weather: T=15.6C H=46.7 percent sky=cloudy 07:00 rec 3 e -9.9 -9.9 -9.6 -9.8 Begin 25 kHz recording 07:01 6 -10.0 -9.8 -9.6 -9.8 07:08 7 -9.9 -9.9 -9.6 -9.1 07:13 8 -9.9 -22.2 -9.6 -15.9 07:18 9 -9.9 -22.2 -9.6 -22.3 07:23 10 -9.9 -22.2 -9.6 -22.3 Confirmed 12.5K ND 07:28 "11,12" -9.9 -9.4 -9.5 -9.8 AMB load phys temps: S1=20.75 S2=21.31 X1=19.00 07:33 13 -10.0 -9.8 -9.5 -10.0 07:38 14 -10.1 -22.2 -9.6 -22.3 07:43 15 -10.1 -22.2 -9.3 -22.4 07:48 16 -10.0 -22.2 -18.8 -22.4 07:53 17 -10.0 -22.2 -21.0 -22.5 Confirmed 12.5K ND 08:04 18 -9.7 -22.2 -21.0 -22.3 08:09 19 -17.9 -22.2 -21.0 -22.4 08:14 20 -19.2 -22.2 -21.0 -22.4 AMB load phys temps: S1=20.56 S2=21.12 X1=18.94 08:19 21/end -19.3 -22.2 -21.0 -22.4 Stop 25 kHz recording BOT 08:30 -19.1 -21.5 -20.7 -19.4 08:45 rec 3 e -19.2 -21.5 -20.9 -19.5 Resume 25 kHz recording 08:54 -19.2 -21.5 -20.9 -19.5 DSS 43 switch to Mars pointing predicts 08:57 sfro 3/SX +9K +45K +9K +45K Rcvr tuning offset (Hz) sfro 4/X +35K +35K Rcvr tuning offset (Hz) MiniCal1 08:58 1 -19.2 -21.5 -20.7 -15.2 Confirmed 12.5K ND 09:01 2 -19.1 -21.5 -18.6 -19.6 09:04 3 -19.1 -16.7 -20.8 -19.6 09:11 4 * * * * Station experiencing config. problems 09:15 5/end * * * * Out of time / Mini-Cal aborted BSR 09:15 rec 4 e -19.2 -21.5 -20.7 -21.8 Begin 100 kHz recording 09:30 sfro 3/X +50K +50K Rcvr tuning offset (Hz) 09:46 sfro 3/X +55K +55K end BSR 10:12 rec 4 d -19.1 -21.4 -20.6 -19.7 End 100 kHz recording MiniCal2 10:14 1 -19.1 -21.3 -20.7 -15.1 Confirm 12.5 10:17 2 -19.0 -21.5 -18.6 -19.7 10:20 3 -19.2 -16.8 -20.5 -19.7 10:31 4 -17.8 -21.5 -20.6 -19.6 S-band config. Problems continue/fixed 10:34 5 -19.2 -21.2 -20.6 -19.2 10:37 end -19.1 -21.2 -20.6 -19.2 10:37 sfro 3/SX 0 0 0 0 Rcvr tuning offsets (Hz) DSS 43 to s/c pointing Predicts EOT 10:43 -19.2 -21.4 -20.6 -21.7 10:43 stow -19.4 -22.2 -21.0 -22.4 Post-Cal 10:50 1 -10.0 -10.1 -9.5 -9.8 AMB load phys temps: S1=19.40 S2=20.31 X1=17.94 10:54 2 -10.0 -9.8 -9.6 -9.0 10:57 3 -9.9 -10.0 -9.4 -9.7 11:00 4 -10.0 -9.3 -9.7 -9.8 11:03 5 -9.7 -9.9 -9.6 -9.8 11:06 6 -17.9 -22.1 -21.0 -22.3 11:09 7 -19.3 -17.1 -21.0 -22.3 11:12 8 -19.3 -22.2 -19.0 -22.3 11:15 9 -19.3 -22.1 -21.0 -15.9 11:18 10 -19.2 -22.3 -21.1 -22.4 AMB load phys temps: S1=19.44 S2=20.12 X1=17.88 Local weather: T=10.1C H=74.0 percent sky=clear" 11:22 11/end -19.2 -22.3 -21.1 -22.3 AMB = ambient load BOT = Beginning of Track BW = bandwidth CNR = Carrier to noise ratio CONSCAN = conical scan tracking CW = continuous wave (carrier only) EOA = End of activity EOT = End of Track FRO = frequency offset HGA = high-gain antenna LOS = loss of signal ND = noise diode No = noise power NOP = Network Operations Plan Pc = carrier power rcvr = receiver S1 = ambient load for S-RCP S2 = ambient load for S-LCP s/c = spacecraft SL = S-LCP SNR = Signal to noise ratio SR = S-RCP TLM = telemetry X1 = Ambient load for both X-band channels XL = X-LCP XR = X-RCP Post Analysis Summary None Dick Simpson Original: 2010-04-29 Removed PDS unfriendly characters: 2011-05-16