When the Sun Gets in the Way: Stereo Science Observations on the Far Side of the Sun

William T Thompson1, Joseph B Gurman2, Janet G Luhmann3, David W Curtis4, Peter C Schroeder4, Richard Mewaldt5, Andrew M Davis6, Kristin Wortman7, Christopher T Russell8, Antoinette Broe Galvin9, Mark Popecki10, Lynn M Kistler11, Lorna Ellis9, Russell A Howard12, Angelos Vourlidas12, Nathan Rich13, Lynn Hutting14, Milan Maksimovic15, Stuart D Bale16 and Keith Goetz17, (1)ADNET Systems Inc. Greenbelt, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)NASA Goddard SFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, (4)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (5)Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States, (6)University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, (7)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (8)University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States, (9)University of New Hampshire, Durham, United States, (10)University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (11)University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Durham, NH, United States, (12)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (13)Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, United States, (14)U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States, (15)LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Meudon, France, Meudon, France, (16)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, (17)University of Minnesota, School of Physics and Astronomy, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Abstract:
With the two STEREO spacecraft on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, pointing the high gain antenna at Earth means that it's also pointed very close to the Sun. This has resulted in unexpectedly high temperatures in the antenna feed horns on both spacecraft, and is forcing the mission operations team to take corrective action, starting in August 2014 for STEREO Ahead, and December 2014 for STEREO Behind. By off-pointing the antennas to use one of the lower power side lobes instead of the main lobe, the feed horn temperatures can be kept at a safe level while still allowing reliable communication with the spacecraft. However, the amount of telemetry that can be brought down will be highly reduced. Even so, significant science will still be possible from STEREO's unique position on the solar far side. We will discuss the science and space weather products that will be available from each STEREO instrument, when those products will be available, and how they will be used. Some data, including the regular space weather beacon products, will be brought down for an average of a few hours each day during the daily real-time passes, while the in situ and radio beacon data will be stored on the onboard recorder to provide a continuous 24-hour coverage for eventual downlink once the spacecraft is back to normal operations.
Back to: Challenges to Space Weather Forecasting and Data-Driven Modeling of the Sun Focused on January 2014 II Posters