| Date: | 1996-09-10 15:00:00 | |
| Sender: | Scott L. Wetzel - NASA SLR <WetzelS@thorin.atsc.allied.com (Wetzel, Scott L.)> | |
| Subject: | [SLR-Mail] No. 24: Global TiPS Tracking Support | |
| Author: | Scott L. Wetzel | |
| Content: | ******************************************************************************** SLR Electronic Mail 1996-09-10 15:00:00 UTC Message No. 24 ******************************************************************************** Author: Scott L. Wetzel - NASA SLR Subject: Global TiPS Tracking Support Subject: Global TiPS Support Shannon.coffey@nrl.navy.mil (Coffey, Shannon) Dear Colleague, As Mission Operations Coordinator for the TiPS mission, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the TiPS mission so far. The support has been excellent considering the quality of the acquisition data which is still being generated from NORAD 2-line elements. The group at NRL is nearing the point where SLR data can be used for generation of acquisition data. When this occurs a notification will be sent. An SLR data solution will be a great help in acquisition of daylight tracking as well as nighttime ranging. As TiPS is moving into the nighttime in Europe and North America, NRL has requested certain ranging operations be attempted to maximize opportunities and data on each end mass of the satellite. With the distribution of stations in North America and Europe it is possible for different tracking scenarios to exist for different systems in an effort to maximum data distribution for acquisition data development. For the EUROLAS stations it is requested that RGO continue to range to each end mass, switching after every minute of data collected to the other end mass. Riga and Potsdam start by ranging to Ralph (sat id 6002 or 9602903). After approximately one minute of data switch to the Norton end mass (sat id. 6001 or 9602902) for the remainder of the pass. The Wettzell, Grasse, and Graz systems are requested to attempt 2-color ranging to Ralph first and then after one minute switch to Norton. The two color passes will give a final verification of which end mass is which as the Ralph end mass is coated to reject 1064 nm. Following the two color ranging to identify the end masses, it is requested that the Wettzell, Grasse, and Graz systems track the Ralph end mass only. This will give NRL a robust data set on the Ralph end mass. All other EUROLAS systems are requested to track the Ralph end mass only at this time as Ralph is the easier of the two end masses to range to as it is closer to the center of mass and the errors of the NORAD data set are smaller for Ralph than Norton. The NASA systems are requested to range to TiPS in the following manner, Moblas 4, 5, 8, and Hollas start by ranging to the Ralph end mass. Following approximately one minute of data collection, switch to the Norton for the remainder of the pass. Moblas 7, TLRS-2, TLRS-3, and MLRS are requested to range to the Ralph end mass for the entire pass. For Australia, it is requested that the Orroral system range to Ralph only as Moblas 5 will be switching between the end masses during each pass. The remainder of the SLR community is requested to range to the Ralph end mass only. It is also requested that all stations with cameras continue to video record the TiPS when in terminator and forward video tapes to NRL when the tape is full. NRL has found that the video tapes have been extremely useful in understanding the tether dynamics of TiPS. Full-rate data transmission is requested to continue in the same manner that it has been with full-rate data being sent to the respective data centers for submission to the CDDIS. Also, it is requested that during the next few weeks, data be sent shortly after the end of the pass to the TIPS FTP account at NASA SLR headquarters at ATSC for quick turnaround by NRL for acquisition data generation. It is very important that the full-rate data is sent in as soon as possible as the tether dynamics change quickly and NRL needs to turnaround a tether state daily in order to develop a history of the dynamics. In closing, I would like to personally thank everyone who has supported the TiPS program so far and look forward to your continued support of this truly unique mission. If you have any questions or comments regarding the TiPS mission please contact me by e-mail at WetzelS@Thorin.atsc.allied.com or by phone at 1-301-805-3987. Best Regards Scott L. Wetzel NASA SLR TiPS Mission Coordinator From: WetzelS@thorin.atsc.allied.com (Wetzel, Scott L.) ******************************************************************************** |