Chandra Users’ Committee
CXC Manager’s Status Report
For the period October 2012 – September 2013
Roger Brissenden
CXC Manager
22 October 2013
Topics
• Program Management
• Mission Operations
– Spacecraft
– Science Instruments and Calibration
– Mission Planning
– Operations Control Center
• Science Operations
– CXC Data Systems
– Calibration
– Data Processing
• Chandra Director’s Office
– GO Program
– Einstein Program
• Education and Public Outreach
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Top Level Summary
• Spacecraft and instruments are performing superbly
– Fine Sun Sensor (FSS) was swapped to B (redundant) side to mitigate
reduced A-side field of view
– Momentum Unloading and Propulsion System (MUPS) was swapped to B
side to allow use of A side in event of a safe mode
 MUPS-B2 thruster will not be used due to zero thrust
– There are no known spacecraft limitations due to degradation, aging or
consumables that would prevent our meeting Level 1 requirements over
the course of a 20-year mission
• Preparing for 2014 NASA Senior Review
– Chandra and Hubble to have individual non-competitive reviews
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Program Management
MSFC Space Systems Programs & Projects Office
Baggett (Prog Mgr)
Chandra X-ray Center Program Office
Tananbaum (Director)
Canizares (MIT)
Brissenden (Mgr) Juda (Flt Dir)
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
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 Management
• Contract
– Contract (Option 1) currently runs through 30 Sept 2016
– Option 2 available through 30 Sept 2019
• Budget
–
–
–
–
CXC is funded through December 16
CXC’s budget and expenditures are consistent with the current plan
Directed to conduct EPO program in FY14
Awaiting FY14 funding guidelines from HQ
• Staff
– Current staffing profile is consistent with plan
3 positions were eliminated in 2013 (staff members left, will not be replaced)
All remaining positions are filled
• Other
– Complying with NASA travel restrictions, which have reduced CXC travel
and increased administrative burden at CXC and MSFC
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Program Management
• CXC-organized Conferences and Reviews
– Chandra Peer Review (18-20 June 13) Boston
– CXC Users’ Committee (22-23 Oct 13) at CfA
– Einstein Fellows Symposium (29-30 Oct 13) at CfA
– Considering 15 Years of Science with Chandra symposium – fall ‘14
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Mission Operations
• Spacecraft
– Continues to operate extremely well
– Nominal passages through eclipse seasons
– Swapped to Fine Sun Sensor B and MUPS side B
• Science Instruments
– Instruments are operating extremely well
– ACIS flight software triggered its first solar radiation safety action (5/22)
• Operations Control Center
– Smooth operations
– OCC air conditioning system upgrade was completed June 2013
– Virtual OCC data system transitioned to operations 24 July 13
• Mission Planning
– 6 fast-turnaround (load interrupting) TOOs during this period
– Observing efficiency is ~80% maximum due to orbit evolution
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Mission Operations – Observing Efficiency
Observing time has increased due to evolving
orbit
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Mission Operations – Consumables
Momentum Unloading & Propulsion System (MUPS) Fuel Usage
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Mission Operations – Consumables
MUPS Thruster Warm Starts
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Science Operations
• CXC Data System Releases
Version
Date
Main contents
DS 8.5
DS 8.5.0.1
DS 8.5.1
DS 8.5.1.1
DS 8.5.2
DS 8.5.3
DS 10.0
DS 10.0.1
05Dec12
06Dec12
13Dec12
18Dec12
26Apr13
23May13
04Jun13
06Aug13
Data system 64bit port of code base; release Sol32
Back out ds9 v7.1 and revert to v5.7
CfP 15 proposal planning support
V&V patch
CfP 15 proposal submission support
Peer review GUI & database
Data system migration to Linux
Small upgrades
• CIAO Data Analysis Releases
Version
Date
Main contents
CIAO 4.5
CIAO 4.6B1
13Dec13
20Jun13
CfP 15 data analysis release
CIAO 4.6 Beta 1
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Science Operations
• Data Processing
– Automatic processing is current; mean time from end of
observation to delivery to user remains at about one day
• Calibration
Products released since October 2012
– Set of ACIS blank sky observations appropriate for observations
since September 2009
– Set of time-dependent ACIS quantum efficiency maps
– Gain maps for ACIS (quarterly) and HRC (annual)
– HRC-S QE map for data taken with the new HV setting
Products to be released by December 2013
– Update to ACIS contamination model
– Improved low energy (<500 eV) gains for ACIS
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Science Operations
Data Delivery
As of middle of following month
As of 10/7/13
Days to Data Delivery
Number of
Month
Obs
Number
Number
Deliv Outstanding
Min
Avg
Max
Number
Deliv
Number
Outstanding
Oct-12
70
0
2
14
70
0
70
0
Nov-12
87
0
1
4
87
0
87
0
Dec-12
85
0
1
9
85
0
85
0
Jan-13
70
0
1
4
70
0
70
0
Feb-13
75
0
1
12
75
0
75
0
Mar-13
73
0
1
6
73
0
73
0
Apr-13
67
0
1
8
67
0
67
0
May-13
56
0
1
11
56
0
56
0
Jun-13
69
0
1
12
68
1
69
0
Jul-13
53
0
1
3
53
0
53
0
Aug-13
67
0
1
7
67
0
67
0
Sep-13
63
0
1
13
63
0
63
0
Avg delivery ~1 day from observation
CXC Status Report/CUC
Comments
Page 13
Chandra Director’s Office
• General Observer Program – Cycle 15
– Proposal deadline 3/14/13; 636 proposals received; 5.4x time oversubscription
– Peer review 6/18-21/13
– 179 proposals approved for 20 Msec, including 2 X-ray Visionary Projects
totaling 5 Msec
– 136 U.S.-based proposals, 43 non-U.S.
• Einstein Fellowship Program
–
–
–
–
189 proposals were submitted for the 2013 Einstein fellowships (11/1/12)
Peer review held 1/16/13; 12 fellowships awarded
Call for proposals for 2014 fellowships issued 8/2/13 (deadline 1/7/13)
Einstein Fellows Symposium (29-30 Oct 13) at CfA
CXC Status Report/CUC
Page 14
Chandra Director’s Office
Grant Awards
SAO Grants (2)
Month of Federal
Data
Grants
(1,3)
Delivery
As of middle of following month
As of 10/8/13
NonNo.
No.
Avg days to No. Grants No. Outstanding Outstanding Awards
Federal
Grants Outstanding award (4)
Awarded
Proposal no, Comments
(3)
Grants
Awarded
Oct-12
1
11
9
2
14
11
0
Nov-12
0
5
5
0
7
5
0
Dec-12
0
51
40
11
21
50
1
Jan-13
8
40
38
2
11
40
0
Feb-13
0
13
11
2
14
13
0
Mar-13
1
13
12
1
12
13
0
Apr-13
0
12
11
1
9
12
0
May-13
0
18
17
1
9
18
0
Jun-13
1
10
8
2
10
10
0
Jul-13
1
14
11
3
8
14
0
Aug-13
2
11
10
1
8
11
0
Sep-13
0
7
7
0
8
7
0
14800671-pre-funding
cancelled
(1) Grants awarded to scientists at Federal institutions as interagency transfers through MSFC.
(2) Grants awarded to scientists at non-Federal institutions through SAO Contracts and Grants Department
(3) Number of grants eligible for award, for which data were delivered to the observer in the month.
(4) Average days from data delivery to grant award to observer.
Grants are typically awarded within ~2-3 weeks of observation
CXC Status Report/CUC
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Education and Public Outreach
•
Press
– 1 AAS press event, 11 science press releases, 1 press release posting, 19 image
releases, 1 non-science release resulting in ~1900 articles in print, web news and
science web sites. Monthly estimated audience in tens of millions.
•
Web, Digital, Social Media
– Public web site attracts average of ~15 million hits per month
– Award-winning podcasts remain the #1 download with ~half a million hits/month
– Social media platform continues to grow, with cumulative ~41k followers on
Twitter, ~55k Facebook likes, >1 million video views on YouTube
•
Public Outreach
– Launched “Here, There & Everywhere” exhibit in libraries, 1/mo. over 3 years
•
Education
– 21 events at National Science Teachers & other meetings reaching 785 teachers
– National Science Olympiad; supported national competition events and coaches
clinics reaching ~100,000 students on over 6000 teams
– OMB & president continuing to push for cancellation of NASA education activities
• EPO guidelines in flux
CXC Status Report/CUC
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