More on ABRIXAS
Roland Vanderspek (roland@blitz.mit.edu)
Thu, 6 May 1999 14:05:22 -0400 (EDT)
A bit more on the state of ABRIXAS from the ABRIXAS "failure meeting" that
took place today at GSOC...
The analysis of telemetry data shows that a battery overload is the cause
of the power problems on ABRIXAS. It's not clear whether one or all 11
battery cells was damaged. However, there is some positive news. Although
the last real telemetry was received early on 1 May, the antenna at Wallops
Island did detect what they call "radio peaks" at regular intervals from
ABRIXAS during a sunlit pass. The conclusion is that the spacecraft is in
a startup loop, where it tries to boot up, notices that there isn't enough
power, then turns off again, waits 90 seconds, tries again... These peaks
have disappeared in the last three days, which leads them to believe that
the panels have turned away from the Sun. But there is increased hope that
the full-sun orbits from 25 June to 1 July may result in renewed contact
with the spacecraft.
The request for visual observations of ABRIXAS has been repeated and
emphasized by the ABRIXAS team. Any observations should also be sent
to Konrad Dennerl at MPE (kod@mpe-garching.mpg.de).
Thanks again...
Roland Vanderspek
roland@space.mit.edu