Gene and Danny: Here is the time line for the MEX BSR on day 099 (Sunday 7:35 AM to 1:50 PM at JPL) using DSS 63. In this experiment the X-Band echo first appears about 39 kHz above the carrier (17:25 UTC). It slowly drifts down, but an hour later we need to enter a FRO every few minutes on SCHAN 3. When we finish, it's still drifting fairly rapidly and is about 55 kHz on the low side of the carrier. There are several FRO changes for the S-Band SCHAN 3. In the 100 kHz bandwidths, we'll use an initial X-Band FRO and an update at 18:20. The reflecting spot starts near the equator, goes to almost 60S latitude, then crosses the equator heading north at about 137W longitude, and ends at (36N, 148W). It's the equator crossing in 'Stealth' that we're most interested in. The incidence angle in Stealth (around 72 deg) is not great, but the angles at the beginning and end are closer to 60 deg, so there may be something we can do with those data also. I am not going to travel to JPL for this one; we did well using the phone the last two times, and that's easier on the budget. I'll plan to be in the lab at Stanford (650-723-3525) for most or all of the experiment. Thanks, Dick 2012/099 (UTC) - - - - - - - 14:35 Begin Pre-cal at DSS 63 FGAIN = 60 dB (all channels, except X-RCP) 65 dB X-RCP FRO_X = 0; FRO_S = 0 (all SCHAN) Start 4-channel 25 kHz recordings after Step 5 (new NOP) Stop 25 kHz recording after Step 20 (new NOP) 16:35 Begin track X-Band AOS (probably with low priority telemetry) S-Band AOS (carrier only) 16:42 X-Band telemetry OFF 16:45 Advise DSS 63 of switch to planetary coordinates at 17:00 Advise DSS 63 of start of MINICAL #1 at 17:05 16:48 Resume 25 kHz recording 16:57 Spacecraft begins SLEW #1 17:00 DSS 63 switch to planetary coordinates 17:03 FRO_X = +29000 Hz (SCHAN 3) FRO_S = +2000 Hz (SCHAN 3) (S-Band) FRO_X = +10000 Hz (SCHAN 4) 17:05 Begin MINICAL #1 17:20 End of MINICAL #1 (end of step 5) 17:25 End SLEW #1 Begin 100 kHz recording (SCHAN 4) 17:49 FRO_X = +22000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 17:57 FRO_X = +15000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:03 FRO_X = +8000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:05 FRO_S = -4000 Hz (SCHAN 3) (S-Band) 18:08 FRO_X = +1000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:15 FRO_X = -6000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:20 FRO_X = -25000 Hz (SCHAN 4) (100 kHz) 18:24 FRO_X = -13000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:27 FRO_S = -10000 Hz (SCHAN 3) (S-Band) 18:29 FRO_X = -20000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:31 FRO_X = -27000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:34 FRO_X = -34000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:35 FRO_S = -15000 Hz (SCHAN 3) (S-Band) 18:36 FRO_X = -41000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:39 FRO_X = -48000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:40 Advise DSS 63 that MINICAL #2 begins at 18:48 Advise DSS 63 of return to spacecraft pointing at 19:03 18:41 FRO_S = -19000 Hz (SCHAN 3) (S-Band) 18:42 FRO_X = -55000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:45 FRO_X = -60000 Hz (SCHAN 3) 18:47 Begin spacecraft SLEW #2 back to Earth End 100 kHz recordings (SCHAN 4) FRO_S = -60000 Hz (SCHAN 3) (S-Band) 18:48 Begin MINICAL #2 19:00 End SLEW #2 (should not be visible because of FROs) 19:03 End MINICAL #2 (end of step 5) DSS 63 return to spacecraft pointing 19:04 FRO_X = 0 Hz (SCHAN 3) FRO_S = 0 Hz (SCHAN 3) 19:12 S-Band LOS X-Band telemetry ON (ignore) Early end of track (scheduled for 19:50) Go to zenith Begin post-cal when ready 20:50 End post-cal (or earlier, if post-cal complete) End 25 kHz recordings End of Activity