Chandra Users’ Committee
CXC Manager’s Status Report
For the period May 2010 – October 2010
Roger Brissenden
CXC Manager
25 October 2010
Topics
• Program Level Status
– Program Management
– Spacecraft
– Science Instruments and Calibration
–
–
–
–
Mission Planning
OCC
Data Processing
CXCDS
– Chandra Director’s Office
– Education and Public Outreach
• Mission Metrics
• Chandra Grant Awards
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 2
Top Level Summary
• Spacecraft and instruments are performing superbly
• NASA Senior Review selected Chandra proposal second of 11
operating missions with a score of 9.5 out of 10
“After a decade in operation, Chandra remains an immensely powerful
observatory in its prime, and it is well managed.”
“The SRC recommends that Chandra be extended with an augmentation with
respect to the FY2011 President’s budget and at the in-guide level for
FY2012 and beyond. A planned tool for subpixel resolution in standard
pipeline processing, user analysis tools, and full archive reprocessing
planned for FY2012 should be completed. The SRC recommends
restoration of funds sufficient for that purpose in FY2011, recognizing
that the recommended level falls short of the in-guide numbers.”
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 3
Program Level Status – CXC Organization
MSFC Space Systems Programs & Projects Office
Hefner
Chandra X-ray Center Program Office
Tananbaum
Canizares (MIT)
Brissenden
Education & Outreach
Lestition
Director's Office
Wilkes
Grants Award Section
Sozanski
Flight Operations Team
Hurley
Online Operations
Mission Planning & Testing
Spacecraft Engineering
Flight Software
Factory Support Team
25 October 2010
OCC Operations
Eagan
Science
Tananbaum
Facility Systems Team
Integration & Ground
S/W Maintenance
Ground Ops Team
Ops. Science Support
Calibration
Mission Planning
Sci. Data Sys. Planning
IPI Teams
CXC Status Report/CUC
Science Data System
Fabbiano
Systems Engineering
Holmes
Hardware & Systems
Software Development
Test
Archive Operations
Data Processing Operations
Page 4
Program Level Status – Program Management
• Budget
– The CXC’s budget is on track with the FY10 Operating Plan
– Funded through December 31
• CXC contract
– Extension provides for a base extension to 9/30/13 with two three-year
options to 9/30/16 and 9/30/19
– Period of performance has been modified to allow administration of grants
beyond the end of operations
• NASA Senior Review
– Submitted proposal 2/9/10, presentation 4/6/10
– Chandra rated 9.5/10, second of 11 missions
– Education and Public Outreach proposal requested for submission 1/24/11
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 5
Program Level Status – Program Management
• Reviews and Conferences
– Peer Review of Chandra proposals, 21-25 June
– Workshop on Accretion Processes in X-rays: From White Dwarfs to
Quasars, 13-15 July
– Einstein Fellows Symposium, 10 October
• Awards
– Harvey Tananbaum was awarded the 2010 Massey Award for his career
accomplishments in high-energy astrophysics
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 6
Program Level Status – Operations
• Spacecraft
– Continues to operate extremely well overall
– Nominal passages through summer eclipse season
– We are modifying flight software and ground systems to allow selected
spacecraft operations to continue during heightened solar activity while
safing science instruments.
 Operations include eclipse handling, momentum unloading and maneuvers to
ensure planned thermal profile. Increases spacecraft safety margins.
 In many cases it will speed up the return to observing following periods of
solar activity.
• Science Instruments
– Instruments are operating extremely well
• Operations Control Center
– NASA approved renewal of Authority to Operate the operations ground
system 7/23
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 7
Program Level Status – Operations
• Mission Planning: Load-interrupting TOOs
– 3 load-interrupting TOOs during this period
• Data Processing
– Automatic processing is current; mean time from end of observation to
delivery to user remains at about one day
• CXC Data System Releases
Version
DS 8.2.2
DS 8.3
DS 8.3.1
DS 8.3.2
DS 8.3.2.1
DS 8.3.3
CIAO 2.1
25 October 2010
Date
May 4
Jun 29
Jul 15
Jul 27
Sep 14
~Oct 27
Main contents
Web Reports/TOO Manager
Pipeline Intrument tools upgrade - full rebuild
Web service patch -- Web only
V&V Error response
SDP Error Response patch
Instrument tool/archive OTS upgrade
Jul 19
Sherpa CIAO patch
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 8
Program Level Status – Operations
• Chandra Source Catalog releases
Version
CAT 3.2.5
CSC Rel 1.1
CAT 3.2.6
Date
Aug 10
Aug 10
~Nov 8
Main contents
CSCview v1.1
CSC Release 1.1
Crossmatch release
• Calibration Database (CalDB) Releases
Contents include two ACIS T_GAIN upgrades, HRC-I BKGRND and
background spectra files, and one HRC-I SAMP gain upgrade.
– CalDB 4.3.0
06/11/10
– CalDB 4.3.1
09/22/10
• GO and Fellows Program, CXC Director’s Office
– Einstein Fellows Symposium held 19-20 Oct
– Cycle 11 grant issuance is current; average time to award < 3 weeks
– Developing process to fast-track grants for observations made before
official start of observing cycle
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 9
Program Level Status – Operations
• Education and Public Outreach
– 6 press releases and 8 image releases since last meeting
– Working on a televised NASA Science Update for November
– Started two new blog series: Women in the High Energy Universe and
Chandra Going Toward Solar Maximum
– Chandra blogs are being featured by on-line Christian Science Monitor
– Created tutorials on public web site to make Chandra archive data more
readily usable by the general public (“citizen scientists”)
– Participated in USA Science & Engineering Fair on the Mall in DC (Oct.
23-24)
– Article on From Earth to the Universe in Spark, the AAS education
newsletter
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 10
Mission Metrics
MUPS Fuel Usage
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 11
Mission Metrics
Thruster Warm Starts
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 12
Mission Metrics
Observing Efficiency
0.9
Processed Observing Efficiency
0.85
0.8
0.75
0.7
0.65
0.6
0.55
Observing efficiency had been limited to ~65-70% by
radiation belt passages. Available observing time is increasing
gradually as Chandra’s evolving orbit reduces time in the belts.
0.5
0.45
0.4
Oct-09
Nov-09
25 October 2010
Dec-09
Jan-10
Feb-10
Mar-10
Apr-10
May-10
CXC Status Report/CUC
Jun-10
Jul-10
Aug-10
Sep-10
Page 13
Data Delivery Effectiveness
As of middle of following month
Month
Nu mber of
Obs
Oct-09
Nov-09
Dec-09
Jan-10
Feb-10
M ar-10
Apr-10
M ay-10
Jun-10
Jul-10
Aug-10
Sep-10
67
68
84
97
79
64
69
74
69
77
63
67
25 October 2010
Days to Data Delivery
Min
Avg
Max
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
14
15
11
22
5
13
7
3
9
7
7
8
As of 10/7/10
Nu mber
Nu mber
Delivered Outstanding
66
68
84
97
79
64
69
74
69
77
62
67
CXC Status Report/CUC
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
Nu mber
Delivered
Nu mber
Outstanding
67
68
84
97
79
64
69
74
69
77
63
67
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Page 14
Grant Award Effectiveness
Month of
Federal
Data
Grants
Delivery
(1,3)
SAO Grants (2)
As of middle of following month
As of 10/12/10
Non-Federal No. Grants
No.
Avg days to No. Grants
No.
Grants (3)
Awarded Outstanding award (4)
Awarded Outstanding
1
1
0
13
1
0
5
5
0
16
5
0
29
29
0
42
29
0
60
60
0
32
60
0
5
5
0
23
5
0
17
17
0
24
17
0
7
7
0
22
7
0
9
9
0
16
9
0
13
13
0
11
13
0
8
7
1
11
7
0
Oct-09
Nov-09
Dec-09
Jan-10
Feb-10
Mar-10
Apr-10
May-10
Jun-10
Jul-10
0
0
1
5
1
1
0
0
0
1
Aug-10
1
3
3
0
7
3
0
Sep-10
0
4
4
0
9
4
0
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Outstandin g Awa rds
Proposal no, Comm ents
11400637 -PI moved to a fo reign
institution, award has been
cancelled. Number of grants
awarded updated from 8 in mid August to 7.
In addition to these awards, 14
fellowship awards were issued in
July.
In addition to these awards, 9
fellowship awards were issued in
August.
Grants awarded to scientists at Federal institutions as interagency transfers through MSFC.
Grants awarded to scientists at non-Federal institutions through SAO Contracts and Grants Department.
Number of grants eligib le for award, for which data were delivered to the observer in the month.
Average days from data delivery to grant award to observer.
25 October 2010
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 15
Chandra State of Health Overview
•
Overall health of the Chandra vehicle remains outstanding
•
All subsystems operating on their primary side equipment with only two exceptions
– Inertial Reference Units (IRUs) and the Mechanism Controller Electronics
(MCEs)
– In both cases, the units were swapped to their redundant side for
operational considerations and not due to unit failures
•
To date, Chandra has experienced few operationally impacting anomalies; all have
been either fully resolved or are being effectively mitigated
– Thermal issues have been challenging, but they are well characterized and
manageable while maintaining a full and efficient observing program
– IEPHIN performance issues being mitigated through use of High Resolution
Camera data as alternative source of radiation data for autonomous safing
16
•
Subsystem performance and operating environment assessed on daily, weekly,
monthly, and biannual bases to quickly identify and respond to adverse trends
•
The flight team has spent considerable efforts investigating and preparing for
possible future mission impacting events, including development of products for
quick response
•
Routine maintenance activities continue to ensure desired performance levels
•
Effects of orbit evolution well understood and being addressed
Chandra Major Subsystem State of Health
Color Key:
blue – no known issues
green – minor issue but meeting all requirements
yellow – moderate issue that minimally affects performance
red – major issue affecting performance
Overall vehicle health remains excellent
17
Subsystem Lifetime Issues
• Analyses associated with extending vehicle life include periodic
life limiting factors studies which analyze all mission consumables
and life-limited items
Static hardware items:
Subsystem
Propulsion
Thermal
PCAD
CCDM
OBC
Life Limited Items
Tanks, Thrusters, Isolation Valves,
Lines
Heaters, MLI, Mirrors
Sun Sensors
OBC EMI Gasket, SSRs
Flight Software Free Memory
Dynamic hardware items:
Subsystem
Life Limited Item
Propulsion
Fuel
Thruster Warm
Starts
IRU Spin Bearing
Solar Array Drive
Reaction Wheel
Bearings
Star Camera CCD
Dark Current
Solar Array Output
Battery Charge /
Discharge Cycles
Power Control Unit
Relays
SIM Focus
Assembly
SIM Translation
Table
Objective
Transmission
Grating Actuators
PCAD
EPS
MECH
OTG
18
Consumables Status
• Of primary interest are fuel remaining and budgeted allocations
for items such as thruster warm starts and mechanism moves
TSC Lifetime Translation Steps
Consumables are in good shape!
19
Power Status
• All three batteries healthy, solar array capability remains above
the pre-launch predicted worse case estimates
CHANDRA DAILY AVERAGE LOAD BUS VOLTAGE
(Twenty Years)
2900
2800
2700
2600
2500
2400
2300
2200
2100
2000
1900
1800
1700
1600
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
31.50
(20 YEARS)
31.00
Coarse Estimate Based on Solar
Array Degradation Trend
30.50
Volts
30.00
Exponential Trend Fit
29.50
29.00
28.50
28.00
27.50
7/24/2020
7/24/2019
7/24/2018
7/24/2017
7/24/2016
7/24/2015
7/24/2014
7/24/2013
7/24/2012
Date
Last Updated: 7/31/2010
DAILY
AVERAGELOAD
LOAD BUS
DAILY
AVERAGE
BUSPOWER
POWER DRAW
Date
Plenty of power for the extended mission!
7/24/2010
1/24/2010
7/24/2009
1/24/2009
7/24/2008
1/24/2008
7/24/2007
1/24/2007
7/24/2006
1/24/2006
7/24/2005
1/24/2005
7/24/2004
1/24/2004
7/24/2003
1/24/2003
Last Updated: 7/31/2010
7/24/2002
1/24/2002
7/24/2001
1/24/2001
7/24/2000
Watts
07/01/19
07/01/18
07/01/17
07/01/16
07/01/15
07/01/14
07/01/13
07/01/12
07/01/11
970.00
950.00
930.00
910.00
890.00
870.00
850.00
830.00
810.00
790.00
770.00
750.00
730.00
710.00
690.00
670.00
650.00
7/24/1999
Last Updated: 7/31/2010
07/01/10
07/01/09
07/01/08
07/01/07
07/01/06
07/01/05
07/01/04
07/01/03
07/01/02
07/01/01
07/01/00
Future Estimated Max Bus Power
1/24/2000
Measured Max Bus Power
Date
20
7/24/2011
7/24/2010
7/24/2009
7/24/2008
7/24/2007
7/24/2006
7/24/2005
7/24/2004
7/24/2003
7/24/2002
7/24/2001
7/24/2000
7/24/1999
27.00
07/01/99
Watts
32.00
CHANDRA SOLAR ARRAY DEGRADATION
State of Health Summary
• Overall, Chandra vehicle health remains excellent
• Although minor issues have surfaced, the operations team has
ensured that these issues are non-impacting and do not threaten
an extended Chandra mission
• Continued diligence being applied to trending, monitoring,
managing thermal challenges, and preparing for anomalies
• At this time there are no known limitations due to degradation,
consumables, aging, or obsolescence that would prevent our
meeting Level 1 requirements over the course of a 20-year
mission
21