Mars Global Surveyor Update – November 15, 2000
Mars Global Surveyor Status Report
Wednesday, November 15, 2000 (DOY 313/19:00:00 to DOY 320/19:00:00 UTC)
Launch / Days since Launch = Nov. 7, 1996 / 1470 days
Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 594 days Total Mapping Orbits = 7,559
Total Orbits = 9,162
Recent Events:
Background Sequences — The spacecraft continues to operate nominally in performing the beta-supplement daily recording and transmission of science data. The mm086 sequence executed successfully from 00-314 (11/9/00) through 00-316 (11/11/00). The mm087 sequence has performed well since it started on 00-317 (11/13/00). It terminates on 00-320 (11/15/00). The mm088 sequence, successfully uplinked on 00-319 (11/14/00), begins executing on 00-321 (11/16/00).
Other – MOLA Polar Scans, contained in the mz062 mini-sequence, were performed successfully on 00-316 (11/11/00) through 00-319 (11/14/00). Data processing will begin as soon as the data are available on the central database.
Spacecraft Health:
All subsystems report nominal health. Telecom link margin is improving as the distance between Earth and Mars decreases. This will allow us to increase the record and playback rates by a factor of two. We plan to increase the record rate to 8 ksps on 00-331 (11/26/00) and the playback rate to 42 ksps on 00-332 (11/27/00).
Uplinks:
There have been 15 uplinks to the spacecraft during the last week, including new star catalogs and ephemeris files, instrument command loads, and the sequences cited above. Unfortunately, seven uplinks attempted today (00-320) were unsuccessful due to bad spacecraft frequency predictions. The affected command files will be uplinked tomorrow morning, 00-321 (11/16/00). There have been 4,947 command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch.
Upcoming Events:
The mm089 background sequence will be uplinked on 00-322 (11/17/00). Radio Science Occultation Egress Scans, scheduled for 00-322 (11/17/00) through 00-325 (11/20/00), will be commanded by the mz063 & mz064 mini-sequences. The mz063a command file will be retransmitted to the spacecraft tomorrow, 00-321 (11/16/00), because today’s attempt failed as explained above.
