Comet Off-Point Test Today

Although a comet hasn't been seen in the SDO field of view since 2012, we are always waiting for the next comet to appear. Today we will run our comet off-point test to make sure we are ready for the rapid response that is necessary. Starting at 1800 UTC (2:00 pm ET) SDO will point up and to the left of the Sun's center for 15 minutes. We will then return to solar-center pointing and hold in inertial mode for 15 minutes, allowing the attitude control engineers to run further tests. By 1850 UTC (2:50 pm ET) SDO will return to normal science mode.

This test assures that the SDO Team will be able to point SDO at an incoming comet with a 24-48 hour notice from the Sungrazer Comet Watchers.

Major Outage -- The fiber optic link between White Sands Ground Station and the JSOC is down

Major Outage -- The fiber optic link between White Sands Ground Station and the JSOC in California is down. Repairs are underway.

Time Down: 08/03/2022 14:57 CT (08/03/2022 19:57 GMT)
Time Reported: 08/03/2022 15:10 CT (08/03/2022 20:10 GMT)

Reason for outage:
WSC/STA Links 1000/1001 down 03/1957:08Z. Carrier notified and they are experiencing an outage on an OC-192 between Sacramento and Burbank, Ca. The technicians in Sacramento have identified/found a bad timing and control module with no spares in inventory. They will ordered one from the vendor and expect it's arrival sometime today. (SR)

Outage Impact: SDO data

SDO Timeline Through February 2023

Here are the highlights of the SDO FDS Quarterly (Long Set) Predicts:

• 2022/206 @ 0716 UTC (07/25 @ 03:16 am ET) - July-August 2022 Eclipse Season Starts
• 2022/208 @ 2240 UTC (07/27 @ 6:40 pm ET) - Station Keeping Manuever #25
• 2022/231 @ 0709 UTC (08/19 @ 3:09 am ET) - Eclipse Season Ends
• 2022/310 @ 2:00 am ET (11/06) - Daylight Savings Time Ends - GSFC Local Time now UTC -5:00
• 2022/341 @ TBD (12/07 @ TBD) - Momemtum Management Maneuver #45 (Tentative Date)
• 2023/020 @ 0722 UTC (01/20/2023 @ 2:22 am ET) - January-February 2023 Eclipse Season Starts
• 2023/021 @ 0440 UTC (01/20/2023 @ 11:40 am ET) - Handover Season Starts with First Handover
• 2023/032 @ TBD (02/01/2023 @ TBD) - Station Keeping Maneuver #26 (Tentative Date)
• 2023/044 @ 0722 UTC (02/13/2023 @ 2:22 am ET) - Eclipse Season Ends

Station Keeping maneuver #25 is Today

SDO will execute Station Keeping maneuver #25 today from 2220-2300 UTC (6:20-7:00 pm ET). During a maneuver SDO science data may be missing or blurred. These maneuvers are needed to maintain SDO's assigned position as it passes through the geostationary orbit belt.

July 2022 Instrument Calibration Maneuvers

The July 2022 Instrument Calibration maneuvers are starting. During an instrument calibration maneuver SDO science data may be missing, blurry, or misaligned.

• 06 Jul 2022: EVE FOV and HMI/AIA Flatfield Calibrations (EVE FOV @ 1315 UTC (9:15-11:50 am ET); HMI/AIA Flatfield @ 1630-1910 UTC (12:30-3:10 pm ET))
• 20 Jul 2022: EVE Cruciform, 1400–1852 UTC (10:00 am - 2:52 pm ET)

The next HMI Roll maneuver has not yet been scheduled.

JSOC Power has been Restored

Power has been restored to Stanford University and all of the components of the JSOC have been turned on. Near-realtime data has been flowing for a day. The science data pipeline will beginning serving data as soon as possible.

Lunar Transit on June 29, 2022

Tomorrow, June 29, 2022, the Moon will transit the Sun between 0519 and 0554 UTC (01:19 and 1:54 am ET). At its peak the Moon will cover about 67% of the Sun. SDO science data will be unavailable during the transit.

Here's a movie of the transit from the SDO Flight Operations Team.

This transit occurs while SDO is in the midnight sector of its orbit. That means the motions of the Moon and SDO combine to make this a short transit, lasting about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!