From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Subject: GSFC Monthly Status Reports
Followup-To: sci.space
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Keywords:  GSFC, GRO, UARS, HST, SAMPEX, EUVE, Geotail
Reply-To: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 05:51:45 GMT

Goddard Monthly Public Affairs Status Report, September 1992

COMPTON        Gamma Ray Observatory
UARS           Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
HST            Hubble Space Telescope
SAMPEX         Solar Anomalous Magnetospheric Particle Explorer
EUVE           Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer
GEOTAIL        Geotail Spacecraft


COMPTON: Compton scientists continued studying an unusually bright
X-ray nova in the constellation Perseus this month.  The spacecraft
was reoriented to get an even closer look at the object, which was
seen continuously for approximately one month before fading in mid-
September.  After September 17, the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment
Telescope (EGRET) and Imaging Compton Telescope (COMPTEL)
instruments resumed the nearly complete all-sky survey.  As of
September 22, the Burst and Transient Source Experiment
(BATSE) detected 436 cosmic gamma-ray bursts. Compton launched
April 5, 1991 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Contact: Randee Exler (301) 286-7277

UARS:  UARS is operating nominally.  However, attempts to restart
the UARS Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (ISAMS)
chopper wheel motor still have not been successful and so ISAMS
remains inoperative.  The motor stopped working on July 29.
Automated attempts to restart the motor continue.  On September 21,
the observatory made a routine forward to backward yaw around.
This maneuver, executed approximately every 36 days, keeps the
solar array on the Sun side of the observatory and the instruments
in the correct orientation with respect to the Sun.  UARS launched
September 12, 1991 from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Contact: Jessie Katz (301) 286-5566

HST: The first four batteries (#2,3,5 and 6) have been discharged
successfully under a battery reconditioning program started in
August. Recharging is in progress.  After an analysis of the
discharge and recharge profiles of the first four batteries,
reconditioning of the last two will be undertaken.  HST launched
April 24, 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Contact: Jim Elliott (301) 286-6256

SAMPEX:  The Low Energy Ion Composition Analyzer (LEICA) reached a
nominal operating state Sept. 23. Spacecraft operators currently
are collecting data from all four SAMPEX instruments. However,
analysis of the anomaly with LEICA's high voltage, first reported
July 21, is ongoing. SAMPEX, a small explorer satellite, was
launched July 3, 1992 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc,
Calif., aboard a Scout rocket.
Contact: Dolores Beasley (301) 286-2806.

EUVE: All EUVE instruments are performing at or better than
expected levels. The satellite is now 11 weeks into a survey of the
entire sky which will provide astronomers with their first detailed
maps in several EUV energy bands. NASA's Guest Observer program
will begin at the conclusion of the sky survey in Freshman 1993.
EUVE was lunched June 7, 1992 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
onboard a Delta II rocket.
Contact: Dolores Beasley (301) 286-2806.

GEOTAIL: Geotail is now in full science mode with the first segment
of the mission, the deep tail phase, during which the spacecraft
will use several orbits to travel deep into the geomagnetic tail,
using lunar swing-bys to achieve the deep orbits.  On Sept. 26,
Geotail reached its first deep tail apogee, and conducted a
velocity adjustment to shape the orbit for the first in-bound lunar
swingby scheduled for October 14. Geotail was launched July 24,
1992 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station onboard a Delta II
rocket. Contact: Dolores Beasley (301) 286-2806.

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Einstein's brain is stored
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | in a mason jar in a lab
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | in Wichita, Kansas.

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