11/07/04: radiation telecon ---------------------------- At the 2:30PM EST telecon the decision was made to run SCS-107 and halt the mission loads because of the high ACE P3 flux. SCS-107 execution was started at ~312:19:54:46 and ran nominally. The plan is to resume the loads after the 314 02:50-04:50Z pass with a maneuver to a cooling attitude for EPHIN through perigee, include a load-break before the resumption of science observations at rad-zone exit, and maintain the NOV0804C sequence. The end of the last observation in the OCT3104B loads (ObsID 6152, M101) and the first partial orbit of the NOV0804C loads are affected. 11/08/04: radiation telecon --------------------------- At last pass EPHIN fluxes still high - E1300 above trigger and P4GM at ~2/3 trigger - E1300 may be affected by EPHIN current limit. GOES and ACE indicate high and perhaps rising levels. There may be a CME associated with the Nov 7 X2 flare still on the way. Only the first segment of NOV1004A loads (only maneuvers - cool EPHIN) will be uplinked at the 02:50 UT pass. Radiation telecon tomorrow morning: Tues, Nov 9, 6:45AM EST 405-244-5060 1165# to decide on whether to uplink science portion of NOV1004A loads If NOV1004A science portion is No-Go the tentative re-plan is to drop the first observation in the orbit (ObsID 6111, MACS0744.9+3927) and aim for an uplink at 315:0345-0445 UT to pick up with ObsID 4490. Later intercepts in the orbit are possible if the trend in radiation looks bad. 11/09/04 radiation telecon -------------------------- Radiation levels too high to start NOV1004A loads this morning. Soft proton flux levels above 80,000. Decision was to plan for restart tomorrow at obsid 5001, 315:1709. This will give more time for radiation levels to decrease to acceptable levels. Will uplink loads during tomorrow morning's 315:1400-1500 pass. Radiation telecon prior to pass (time to be announced) 11/10/04 radiation telecon -------------------------- A telecon was held this morning to review the current radiation environment and decide on whether to resume the science mission with the NOV1004B products. The ACE-P3 levels are low but the spectrum is not relaxed. The GOES protons are elevated but below ~1/3 the level at which they would predict an EPHIN trigger. At the start of comm the EPHIN fluxes were: E1300: ~1.8-2.0 P4GM: ~60-65 P41GM: ~1.8-2.0 All are below the ~1/3 trigger threshold. While the radiation levels are elevated and there is the potentential for the arrival of additional CMEs, it was decided that the environment is safe for resuming operations with the NOV1004B products. Nov 8, SOT Shift Report ------------------------ Running OCT3104B yesterday. Due to high solar radiation levels (ACE P3 > 10000) it was decided to terminate the load via commanded SCS-107 run. SCS-107 was started at 312:19:54:46 and ran nominally. Current plan is to resume mission loads after the 314 0250-0450 (UT) pass, starting with a maneuver to a cooling attitude for EPHIN for the subsequent perigee pass. Science observations will begin after rad-zone exit at about 314:1700, using the NOV08 observation sequence. The end of the last observation in the OCT3104B loads (M101, obsid 6152) and the first partial orbit's observations in NOV0804 will be affected. Radiation assessment telecon later on today. Mike Juda will send out notice. A load break will be placed after the first maneuver, just before resumption of science observations. The first load segment can therefore be used as just a maneuver load in the case of continued high solar radiation levels. Radiation levels are high (2000-3000) but slowly decreasing. There could be additional flare activity which would raise the levels again. 3-day Solar-Geophysical Forecast issued Nov 7 at 22:00 UTC Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be moderate to high. Although it has decayed in size, Region 696 is expected to produce M-class and isolated X-class flares. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be at unsettled to major storm levels. A shock passage from the CME associated with the M2/M5 flares from 5 November is expected to arrive early on 8 November, and a shock passage from the CME associated with the M9 flare from 6 November is expected to arrive on 9 November. Today's X2 flare very likely produced a CME that could arrive late on 9 November. These anticipated shock passages, along with the elevation in solar wind speed due to a geoeffective coronal hole, should keep geomagnetic activity at unsettled to minor storm levels all three days, with isolated major storming possible on 8-9 November. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux at GOES is expected to stay above the 10 pfu threshold through 8 November, and will likely cross the 100 pfu threshold early on 8 November. Nov 10 SOT Shift Report ------------------------ Radiation levels too high to start NOV1004A loads this morning. Soft proton flux levels above 80,000. Decision was to plan for restart tomorrow at obsid 5001, 315:1709. This will give more time for radiation levels to decrease to acceptable levels. Will uplink loads during tomorrow morning's 315:1400-1500 pass. Radiation telecon prior to pass (time to be announced) 3-day Solar-Geophysical Forecast issued Nov 8 at 22:00 UTC Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be moderate with the possibility of M-class and isolated X-flares from Region 696. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The Geomagnetic field is expected to be at unsettled to major storm levels on 09 November due to the arrival of a CME associated with the X2.0 flare observed on 07 November. Unsettled to minor storm levels are expected on 10 November. Quiet to active levels are expected on 11 November.