Mars Global Surveyor Status Report 12 Sep 2001
Wednesday, September 12, 2001 (DOY 248/19:00:00 to DOY 255/19:00:00 UTC)
Launch / Days since Launch = Nov. 7, 1996 / 1771 days
Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 895 days
Total Mapping Orbits = 11,241
Total Orbits = 12,924
Recent Events:
Background Sequences – The mm152 background sequence terminated unexpectedly
on 01-249 (9/6/01) at 05:34:41 SCET UTC when MGS entered Contingency Mode
(C-Mode) due to star processing difficulties. The MGS team has been
successful in recovering from C-Mode and playing back the data recorded on
01-248 (9/5/01) and 01-249 (9/6/01) up to the point of C-Mode entry. MGS is
presently in the Relay-16 attitude with the MOC and MAG/ER instruments
powered back on. MOLA will be powered during the MOLA Diagnostic Test #4 on
01-256 (9/13/01) and TES will be powered on 01-258 (9/15/01). The spacecraft
will be operating nominally once the mz153 background sequence goes active
later today at 01-155 (9/12/01) 23:59:00.
Other – The Delta-DOR experiment scheduled for 01-253 (9/10/01) and the
Solar Array (SA) and High Gain Antenna (HGA) flexible modes baseline
diagnostic test scheduled for 01-154 (9/11/01) did not take place due to
C-Mode recovery.
One Roll Only Targeted Observation (ROTO) was successfully performed before
the spacecraft entered C-Mode. MGS has completed 198 ROTOs to date.
Spacecraft Health:
All subsystems report good health and status. The spacecraft team is
investigating the spacecraft’s difficulty in processing stars leading to the
C-Mode entry. The MOLA instrument team is still investigating the MOLA
anomaly of 01-181 (6/30/01). MOLA Diagnostic Test #4 is scheduled for 01-256
(9/13/01).
Uplinks:
There have been 112 uplinks to the spacecraft during the past week,
including C-Mode recovery files, new star catalogs and ephemeris files,
instrument command loads, and the MM153 background sequence. 5,727 command
files have been radiated to the spacecraft since launch.
Upcoming Events:
Delta-DOR experiments are scheduled for 01-267 (9/24/01) and 01-269
(9/26/01). MOLA Diagnostic Test #4 will take place on 01-156 (9/13/01).
