ATIC launch

The balloon is being laid out for the ATIC launch. The expected launch time is 5 pm NZT.

CREAM launch

CREAM was launched about 5:13 AM in the morning of Dec 16 local time, NZT. The fog got cleared up magically, and it was a beautiful launch. Thank you, Ice crew & SOC. Have a couple of hrs of rest while the balloon goes up and gear up for the LOS data.

SOC, confirm if the "launch site streaming video"on http://www.nsbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice0506.htm is working.

We are about to roll out to the launch pad. The estimated launch time is 2:30 AM NZT.

We have a communication outage. The internet has been extremely slow and eventually dead. I see one message going thru in about 2 hrs. I hope this message goes thru in time. Our phone lines are also dead. We will set up an Iridium modem for the chat line with SOC. We will also have two Iridium phones for an emergency discussion. It is being charged at the moment and we will start testing as soon as phones are charged.

We are currently waiting for the upper wind to set before we roll out to the flight line. The estimated launch time is midnight NZT. Allow +- couple of hrs.

It is time for a Go-NoGo decision. Let me know if anyone has any concern for Go. As you know, near-real time data are available on our web.

K, finally we got the blue sky back. The payload building door is open and the rotator is out. The estimated launch time is 10:00 pm NZT.

In case you are wondering, the webcam picture is real. We have condition 2 in Willy field due to fog. The projected launch is now delayed to ~7 pm.

launch attempt for Friday 12/15 NZT - start earlier

We are starting earlier. The first crew to depart DJ at 7:30 am and the second at 9:30 am. We are looking at 4:00 pm launch. This is likely to be it.

launch attempt for Friday 12/15 NZT

We are rolling back. Wind is expected to be too high in 4-6hrs although it looks perfect at the moment. It was obviously a too narrow window. A good news is that we have the next window soon, 12/15 09:00 GMT. This window is expected to last about 24 - 36 hrs. Our current plan is to start at 00:00 GMT, but we will have another weather brief tomorrow morning before we set the exact time.

launch attempt for Friday 12/14 NZT

Need to start earlier than we thought. We expect to have a launch window 3 - 7 pm. We will get ready for a 3 pm launch. The actual launch could be delayed a few hrs depending on wind. The first crew will depart DJ at 5:30 am and the second at 7:30 am.

launch attempt for Friday 12/14

It is clear but too windy. Today's attempt is canceled. The next window is Wednesday 12/14 late evening, ~10PM launch. The exact schedule will have to be confirmed tommorow morning. Stay tuned.

launch attempt for Friday 12/13

No launch for 12/12. Too windy. The next window is 12/13, 7 pm. We will come out to Willy field with the 7:30 am shuttle and check on weather to confirm this plan.

launch attempt for Monday 12/12

It is snowing and the clouds are not going to be cleared soon. We are calling off today. The next attempt is monday 12/12, 3 pm launch.

launch attempt for Saturday 12/10

Based on the weather update, we have a schedule change: Launch 11 am, 4 hrs earlier than 3pm. Our roll out starts at 2:30 am

The 1 st crew meets at DJ to depart at 2 am. The second crew meets at 4 am. The launch pad work is not completed so there is an uncertainty. We'll know more later today.

launch attempt for Saturday 12/10

Back to condition 3 and tomorrow's weather looks good. However, much of the resources will be tied for cleaning up the snow drifted and accumulated from the condition 1 storm we had last night. Our next launch attempt is planned for saturday, 12/10, 6:30 am roll out for 3 pm launch. Weather will continue to be good, more than just good but painfully good with 2-4 knts thru saturday morning. It looks like wind is going to pick up around 1 pm so our launch window is marginal weather wise at the moment. We will know better tomorrow. Current outlook for the sunday and monday weather is good.

By the way, you can see the current Willy field webcam picture on the NSBF web site which is linked from our web, "Tracking the Payload" on the Flight 2005 page. "Monitoring Launch Condition in Willy field" on the Flight 2005 page will leads you to the weather data.

launch attempt for Sunday 12/11

It was warm & nice today. We went out to Willy field. Vans are not allowed yet, but Deltas are running every hour. It was a rough 50 min ride. Drifted snow piled up about 3 ft back side of the buildings. The runway is not ready yet, meaning equipment/vehicles/resources are tied up there. The launch pad is expected to be worked on tomorrow. So, no launch tomorrow. How early we can launch depends on how quickly the cleaning up process (storm recovery process) goes. Our great weatherman Bob lost his father and he is heading back home tomorrow. He gave us a good prediction for the sunday weather though. We expect to have a nice 4-6 knt window for 36 hrs thru monday. So, our next attempt is sunday 12/11, 6:30 am roll out for 3 pm launch. Cross your fingers.

launch attempt for Friday 12/9

Condition 2 continues. No access to Willy field yet. The thursday 3:30 pm plan (for the launch of friday 1 am) was scrubbed. Our next attempt is friday 12/9 6:00 am NZT.

USAP McMurdo Communications Planned Outtage Tonight 07-Dec05

IT&C will be taking down all internet and off-continent phone connectivity on the evening of December 7th (there is no alternate date for this outage). This outage is required as a part of the McMurdo Bandwidth upgrade and requires moving the primary satellite dish at Black Island.

Although 6 hours is scheduled for this outage, connectivity may be intermittent during this time.

launch attempt for wednesday 12/7, 3PM NZT

Condition 2 again in Willy field. The next launch window is thursday night, midnight to friday 1 AM. So, roll out starts tomorrow, thursday 12/8, 3:30 pm, NZT.

There will be another weather check tomorrow morning. I will let you know if the plan changes.

launch attempt for wednesday 12/7, 3PM NZT

At the moment, we are looking at the second attempt for tomorrow, i.e., same time schedule as today. Stay tuned for the weather briefing, 3:30 pm NZT.

launch attempt for wednesday 12/7, 3PM NZT

No launch today. It is too windy. The low pressure system moved in last night. We will let you know when the next launch window might be after the weather briefing today.

launch attempt for wednesday 12/7, 3PM NZT

It is warm and sunny. ATIC hang test is in progress. The pathfinder trajectory looks good. Weather is expected to be good for wednesday. Wind may pick up thursday and get worse friday, so we are planning for the wednesday launch. Sonny will get you the detailed schedule later. This is early warning for SOC to be ready for the science LPT wednesday morning NZT.

Pathfinder launch

It was windy earlier today and the pathfinder launch was delayed to around 4 pm (sunday 12/4) NZT. It is up now. You can track it on the NSBF web: http://www.nsbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice0506.htm. If the vortex is confirmed with a 2-3 day flight of the pathfinder and NSBF is flight ready soon, we may be in a good position to break the record of the earliest launch date, 12/12

Successful Hangtest

CREAM declared its flight readiness based on the instrument subsystem flight readiness represented by Youngsoo and Paolo for the Calorimeter, Isaac for the TCD & CD, and Nahee for the SCD. Sonny confirmed the operation and the overall instrument readiness. SOC, Please confirm your flight readiness. If you have any issues/concerns let me know asap. Now, we plan to leave the instrument on and take muon data as long as possible until the actual launch.

Successful Hangtest

The hang test is over now and the payload is now being brought into the building. The payload was rolled out at 10:20 am and it took 7 hours to finish.

The science part of LPT took about one hour during which time the calorimeter, SCDs, CVD, and TCD were checked out. All look normal.

CSBF will be launching a path-finder tomorrow at 9:30 am which will be followed by an ATIC hang test. If the weather is good, CREAM may be launched in the coming week.

Finally, I would like to thank UMD SOC for staying on Friday late until 11 pm to support the hang test.

Hangtest in Progress.

Starting Hangtest.

Sorry for this late notice. About an hour ago, we decided to come out to Willy Field for a hang test. Time line (all in NZDT) looks as:

10:20 am   Start preparations.
12:00 pm   Science LPT.
13:00 pm   CDM LPT (UMD SOC can exercise commanding.)
14:30 pm   Power down (end of data flow test).

Wind is down.

Hangtest 12/1.

The weather in Willy field deteriorated to condition 2. No hang test for sure. Sunday weather seems to be promising, but the weather prediction is not so reliable many days ahead. We will have to monitor the situation daily.

Hangtest 12/1.

IT&C will be taking down all internet and off-continent phone connectivity on the evenings of December 2nd, 3rd and 4th. These outages are required as a part of the McMurdo Bandwidth upgrade and require moving the primary satellite dish at Black Island.

Although 9 hours is scheduled for each of the outages, actual outage times will vary depending on critical station needs.

In the event of a life threatening emergency that requires off-continent connectivity, parties should contact the McMurdo Help Desk at pager 834 and communications will be brought back online within 20 minutes.

Department:		IT&C
Location:		McMurdo Station
System:		McMurdo - Off Ice Data/Phone communications
Duration:		9 Hours each
 
Outage 1:	02DEC2005 1700-0200McMurdo
		02DEC2005 0400-1300zulu
Outage 2:	03DEC2005 1700-0200McMurdo
		03DEC2005 0400-1300zulu
Outage 3:	04DEC2005 1700-0200McMurdo
		04DEC2005 0400-1300zulu
		
Services unavailable:
-Internet access
-All off-station data transfers except those utilizing 128K Christchurch
link 
-All off-continent phone/fax services except for New Zealand Telecom
phone lines
-All off-continent email 
-AFTAC, CTBT, NASA Data, NASA Voice, Wells Fargo (ATMs) data connections

-Off continent VoIP connections 
-Data connectivity to Denver (Centennial), Palmer and South Pole 
-Telemedicine services 
-Off-station network applications (Polar-ice write access, ORT, Shield,
CVS) 
-Weather imagery downloads or uploads (ATS and Terascan) 
-AFRTS Radio and Television feeds except local scrolls, movie channels,
local DJ radio
-Store Credit Card services
 
Services available:
-McMurdo LAN (McMurdo and vicinity)
-Local network file storage (H:, I:, J:, and S: drives etc..) 
-Local network printing 
-128Kbps Christchurch link (AFTN, Terascan, ATS)
-5 off-continent emergency phone lines (New Zealand) 
-Local phones for McMurdo and vicinity 
-AFRTS local scrolls, movie channels, local DJ radio 
-Local email 
-All radio and iridium phone services 
-Wireless network connections to field camps 
-Local network applications (MAPCON, CTS, PTS, Firehouse, Calm, Polar
Ice, etc..) 
-POS network 

Hangtest 12/1.

The predicted weather is marginal, 8 - 10 knts, for tomorrow's hang test. We are proceeding with the plan to start at 6 am NZT (noon EST). Science LPT is scheduled for 8:30 AM NZT (allow +- 30 min). SOC should be ready and operational by 2 pm EST. When and if the wind picks up, the test will be aborted. Stay tuned. Ironically, 12 knts could've been handled OK at the old PIG barn because it was under the ground in a hole but now since we are above the ground we have to worry about 10 knts. So, here is what you can wish & pray for: the low pressure system to stay in NW and not to move to McMurdo for another day.

As per the instrument, the SFC was frozen a few times for the past few days. Sonny rolled back his software and has been testing the system for ~9 hrs without a problem. Since 24/5 testing at WFF was successful, power GSE is another one we are looking into. I hope one of these two are the cause. Since replacing SFC won't be fun although the spare SFC is being prepared.

Hangtest today cancelled.

Due to rising winds, the hang test scheduled on Dec. 1st has been cancelled. We got here 6:15 am and was about to roll the instrument out but the weather was not so good. We will look for the next opportunity. Thanks for standing by.

What is going on, on the ice since Sunday?

The off-the-continent telecommunication lines were down for about a day and I could not make telephone calls nor read/write emails. Now it is up.

The TDRSS test on Sunday (Saturday at UMD) went pretty well on the ice. We are scheduled to hang test on Thursday. ATIC will do on Saturday. Weather is looking good for the hang test, i.e., not much wind. If the hang test is good, then CREAM will be the first payload to get launched.

After the ATIC hang test, a path finder balloon will be launched to check the balloon trajectory. CSBF is still holding their flight readiness on 12/10. After this date, when the weather is good, we could launch any date. Get prepared!

ONE minor thing, though. After the TDRSS test on Sunday, we connected our GSE power supply and controller and powered up the instrument. And we let the instrument to take muon events. On Monday afternoon, after about 22 hours of continuous operation, the science flight computer (SFC) got hung up and would not respond. Once the SFC was rebooted by a reset (not by power cycling), things looked good, but only about an hour. It got frozen again. The Ethernet switch was good because we could ping one of the TCD concentrators. Again, SFC reset did the job.

Before heading back to town yesterday, the instrument was turned off. It was turned back on Tuesday morning, so far it is running great. We will watch it more carefully and get the spare SFC checked out. The hang test will be proceeded with the current configuration, though. My plan is to let it run continuously and check if the hangup occurs again and if so how frequently.

McMurdo Communication Outtage

As some of you already know, McMurdo Internet and off-continent phone circuits were down for 27 hrs 30 min from 11/27/05 09:41 to 11/28/05 12:11 (McMurdo time).

The cause of this outage was reported to be the aggregate card failure in Brewster GDC MUX.

As shown below, there will be three 9 hr outages some time 12/1 - 12/5. We do not know which days exactly but it will be between the hours of 5pm to 2am (McMurdo time)each day.

The MWBI contract team will have their 5 final days out at Black Island Dec 1st through Dec. 5th. Sometime during these 5 days we anticipate we'll need three 9 hour outage windows to complete the acceptance testing of the new Satellite Antenna Control System and the new Satellite Monitor and Control system. This testing will swing the Black Island Antenna off axis from our Satellite Intelsat 701, therefore all primary off-continent communications will be down during this testing. The emergency connections through Scott base will still be available

From Willy Field

I arrived on the Ice as scheduled. The flight preparation has apparently been pretty smooth as Sonny has been reporting. I must congratulate Sonny and the I&T crew for their excellent work. The new facility is fantastic. Take a look at the pictures Youngsoo posted on the web (Flight 2005 photo album). Our hang test is scheduled for thursday 12/1 followed by ATIC's saturday 12/3. NSBF's current projection for the flight readiness date is 12/10. It may become a day or two earlier if things go well. The vortex is forming nicely at the high altitude, ~2mb. It is still off the continent at the lower altitude, but it should set in a few days to have a path finder launch about monday or so.

11/21/05 Status in Willy Field

It's Monday. Today is a little windy and cloudy. People says there will be a weather change in this afternoon. (I have no idea what will happen. But, it sounds interesting!) WFF people is working on mounting CDM on the instrument. Also, a High gain antenna strut was installed. And NSBF people are working on the setup for Hang-test out side of the building. (A picture will be posted on the gallery.) Tomorrow, we are going to have TDRSS data flow test.

CREAM Status

I have reported that during the instrument CPT a small problem was found in the calorimeter trigger system. Closer examination of the data revealed that the problem was localized to ONE particular channel (out of 2560 channels) which can be masked off. Suspecting it might be due to light leak, another test was performed with all building lights off. Still the problem existed with the same channel. I will confirm with a calorimeter expert but we all may live with this. In short, the instrument is ready for flying once we accept the bad channel as is.

A limited performance test was performed on CDM + Science instrument side by side. All are satisfied with the results.

1. TCD pedestal run (30 mins).
2. Calorimeter trigger logic check (30 mins).
3. SCD charge calibration run through the night (8 hours).

CPT Completed

The CPT is completed in the morning. Certain sections were skipped because they were covered by the LPT yesterday or simply because they could not be done without disintegrating the instrument.

All the common electronics boxes were checked. This includes the housekeeping board, the command board, the calibration board, the sparsification boards, the Ethernet switch, etc. Also the secondary boot source of the SFC has been checked out.

However, we encountered one issue regarding the calorimeter trigger. Certain channels look noisier than they used to be. This may just turn out to be nothing but at least to me the plots look different and I would like to clarify why.

In the afternoon, the legs were attached to the instrument. Paolo completed HV scan of the LED responses. Young Soo was looking at the calorimeter trigger threshold vs. HV.

In my yesterday report, the instrument had a vertical shock over 5 G but less than 10 G. The EDR could not tell anything about this because one of its default parameter was set invalidly.

Nahee is coming to the town but the flight has been delayed by 5 hours. She is expected to arrive at 9 pm instead of 4 pm. She is the last member of the CREAM IT crew coming to the ice.

Nov 18 (NZ) in Willy Field.

Since the instrument arrived at the building yesterday, Sonny was working on CPT until today. While WFF people put the leg on the instrument this afternoon, Larry was supervising them. Current plan is that the instrument and CDM will get connected on Saturday(NZ).

Internet connection inside the new building in Willy Field seems to work fine today. (Yesterday, it worked in the morning, but there were some problems in the afternoon.) I'm getting used to live here except slow internet.

CPT completed.

The CPT is completed in the morning. Certain sections were skipped because they were covered by the LPT yesterday or simply because they could not be done without disintegrating the instrument.

All the common electronics boxes were checked. This includes the housekeeping board, the command board, the calibration board, the sparsification boards, the Ethernet switch, etc. Also the secondary boot source of the SFC has been checked out.

However, we encountered one issue regarding the calorimeter trigger. Certain channels look noisier than they used to be. This may just turn out to be nothing but at least to me the plots look different and I would like to clarify why.

In the afternoon, the legs were attached to the instrument. Paolo completed HV scan of the LED responses. Young Soo was looking at the calorimeter trigger threshold vs. HV.

In my yesterday report, the instrument had a vertical shock over 5 G but less than 10 G. The EDR could not tell anything about this because one of its default parameter was set invalidly.

Nahee is coming to the town but the flight has been delayed by 5 hours. She is expected to arrive at 9 pm instead of 4 pm. She is the last member of the CREAM IT crew coming to the ice.

Instrument LPT done.

After attending the NSF science briefing in the morning, we headed out to the Willy field and unpacked the GSE crates. ALl the computers, the printer, and the UPSes were working fine even though they went through a rough handling.

The CREAM-II science instrument was delivered to the front of the payload building this afternoon at 4:55 pm and was put inside the building at 5:20pm. The accelorameter showed that there was a vertical shock over 5 G but less than 10 G. This worried me and other people, and as soon as Robby pulls out data from the EDR we will be able to tell when it happened.

After dinner in McMurdo, we went back to Willy Field and started LPT. Everything worked okay. The noise level of the calorimeter and dual SCDs were within the range. The responses of the charge calibration and LED runs were normal. The calorimeter TA noise test went okay. Finally, the muon run of TCD/CVD confirmed all TCD/CVD phototubes are working fine. This is very encouraging.

Tommorow, we will be doing the CPT but skipping sections done during the LPT. This will enable us to check the common electronics boxes and the secondary boot source of the SFC. Plenty of photographs were taken, but only selected few will be uploaded tomorrow.

Arrived at McMurdo!!!!

This morning Issac, Paolo, Sonny and I met at CDC in Christchurch, New Zealand for a flight to McMurdo. After Several Hours of flight in C130, finally, we arrived at McMurdo station safely. It's a little windy but it's nice weather. I'm a little confused in the new world and just following Sonny.

Larry and Tina came to meet us. While having dinner, we met Wallops folks. According to Larry and WFF people, Science GSE container is opened and rates are taken out from the Container. The instrument Container is still in the storage in McMurdo. It will be moved to the Willy Field Tommorow. Tomorrow morning there will be another briefing for new commers. After then, we will see the instrument moving into the barn.

2nd day in Christchurch

It is the second day in Christchurch. Young Soo and I reported to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) at 1pm. We dropped off our computers so that they could be scanned while we were checking out the cold weather gears. Tommorow, we are expected to report at 6:30 am but the airplane will take off around 9am, probably.

We met Paolo and we will have dinner together tonight. According to RSPC, Isaac has arrived today and checked his winter clothing already. But I have not seen him yet. He is expected to ride the same airplane. At the latest, I should be able to see him tommorow.

Sonny | Nov 14, 2005 8:38 PM EST

YS in Christchurch, New Zealand

As scheduled, I departed from BWI in Saturday afternoon (11/12/05), and arrived at Christchurch, New Zealand on Monday morning (11/14/05). Sonny and I checked in motel. Everything looks ok except jet lag. (Here is 6:48 pm on Monday 11/14/05. In EST, it's 0:48 am on Monday 11/14/05)

Young Soo Yoon | Nov 14, 2005 12:51 AM EST

Arrived In Christchurch

After a total of four flights, Young Soo and I have arrived in Christchurch. We are very tired but are doing okay. Tommorow, we will go to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) to check cold weather gear and to check our notebook computers

Sonny | Nov 14, 2005 12:15 AM EST