AIM - The Mission

The AIM spacecraft continues to operate nominally. We’ve experienced uplink receiver bitlock sporadically this week. The operations team completed testing the new flight software patches which enable operations if the receiver bitlock functionality completely fails. The results of last week’s test of the On-Orbit Mission Planning software were analyzed by OSC and the instrument teams. The system performed within specifications.

The SOFIE instrument continues to perform perfectly since return to operational science mode on March 14th. Data is excellent and all instrument parameters are nominal. The only planned change is a slight reduction in integration time for the center sums ROI (region of interest) to bring those sun sensor measurements more into the linear response range.

The first release of SOFIE data occurred on March 24th, with data processing and validation in full swing. Level 1 data is being processed with a 3 day delay from measurement. Level 2 data will appear about 10 days after on-orbit measurement due to an initial conservative validation process that will be shortened as we gain confidence in the processing algorithms and data. The goal is to reduce the level 2 delay to 3 days by the end of May. The 3 day delay is due primarily to National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) data availability. By late fall, refraction based temperature retrievals will remove the need for the NCEP product, bringing the time from measurement to available product to under 48 hours, with delays as short as a few hours for special events.

Major improvements to the processing algorithms are underway. Priority items include better corrections for signal drift, NLTE physics in the forward CO2 transmission model and improved correction for PMC extinction in the temperature and mixing ratio retrievals. These improvements are targeted for use in the operational processing system by early May.

CIPS continues to provide excellent science data from all four cameras. Further, our analysis of on-orbit calibration data shows that camera sensitivity has changed less than 0.5% since launch. CIPS data sequencing automatically switched from the Southern to Northern Hemisphere on the first day of spring, as planned.

CDE is on and collecting dust impact data following the completion of the Recovery ATS. Temperatures and voltages are nominal. CDE Version 2 data processing is being implemented for Levels 1 (Charge) and 2 (Mass).