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Cluster Master Science Plan - History

Cluster-I planning

Prior the launch of Cluster-I in June 1996, the Science Operations Working Group had prepared and approved a Master Science Plan for the first six months of mission operations (i.e. the first constellation, in which the spacecraft have closely-spaced orbits such that they form a approximately 600km sided tetrahedron when crossing the northern cusp).

This Cluster-I Master Science Plan was edited by the EDI instrument team and issued as MPE technical note CL-MPE-TN-0009. The full text of the final issue (version 3.2) of the Cluster-I Plan is available in PDF format.

Cluster-II pre-launch planning

Following the approval of Cluster-II in 1997, JSOC took over responsibility for editing the Master Science Plan. A revised Plan for the first six months was produced in the summer of 1998. This was prepared to allow ESOC to confirm that the Master Science Plan was consistent with various design changes in spacecraft operations between Cluster-I and Cluster-II. It also included minor changes in the Cluster orbit arising from the changed launch scenario. The changes in the Master Science Plan (to version 4.0.1) are described in a JSOC technical note (DS-JSO-TN-0030), which is available in PDF format.

Cluster-II first constellation

Further revision of the Master Science Plan (to version 5.1) was carried out in autumn 2000 after the Cluster launches. This addressed various issues identified as a result of the assessment of version 4.0.1 by the Science Operations Working Group. In particular, the ESOC assessment of version 4.0.1 indicated that the duration of burst mode data-taking could be increased by about 16%. Thus the Plan was revised to take account of this extra resource. The full text of version 5.1 of the Master Science Plan is available in PDF format. It covers a period of about four months from 2 December 2000 to 9 April 2001 (orbits 68 to 121).

The Master Science Plan for the first constellation was further revised in January 2001 - to take account of final plans for the transition from commissioning into operations. This resulted in the loss of some early orbits owing to the extension of commissioning activities and the adoption of reduced operations over Christmas 2000. The new Plan was version 5.3 and covered operations from 16 January 2001 to 5 June 2001. The full text is available in PDF format.

January 2002 manoeuvres

These are Bryant plots showing the location of the planned manoeuvres with respect to data-taking periods. The orbit manouevres on each spacecraft are indicated by different coloured shapes following the Cluster plotting guidelines, e.g. red solid diamond for spacecraft 2 (Salsa). The period of attitude manoeuvres on 11 Jan 2002 is marked by a blue ellipse. Note that these plots are available only as bitmapped graphics and so quality is inferior to the vector graphics used in the main Bryant plots above.

Annotated Bryant Plo t for 16h to 14h LT (new version 21 Dec)

April 2002 attitude manoeuvres

On 16 April 2002 there will be a 6-hour period allocated for manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the four Cluster spacecraft. This periods runs from 09:00 to 15:00 UTC. To show the impact of these manoeuvres on science operations, the figure below uses the Bryant plot format to show their location with respect to scientific regions and events. The manoeuvres are marked by the red line, while the blue diamonds indicate magnetopause crossings and the grey-green triangles indicate bow shock crossings. The reference spacecraft for this plot (i.e. defining perigee and boundary crossings) is spacecraft 3 (Samba).

As a general rule we avoid instrument operations from one hour before each manoeuvre until eight hours after each manoeuvre. Thus the effect of the planned manoeuvres will be to inhibit operations in the following regions on orbit 278:

  • outbound magnetosheath
  • outbound bow shock and foreshock region
  • Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    June 2002 manoeuvres

    In June 2002 the Cluster separation will be increased from about 100 km up to several thousand kilometres. A summary of the manoeuvres planned to achieve this increase has been prepared by ESOC and is available in PDF format. This presents the date, time and duration of each manoeuvre on each of the four spacecraft.

    To show the impact of these manoeuvres on science operations, the figure below uses the Bryant plot format to show their location with respect to scientific regions and events. The manoeuvre start times are marked by black squares (spacecraft 1), red diamonds (2), green circles (3) and magenta triangles (4) - in line with the standard plotting convention for Cluster. For clarity we have not marked the manoeuvre end times as these are typically a few minutes to two hours after the start time - and thus close to the start times on the scale of this plot. The only exception to this is 30 hour period planned for slew and spin manoeuvres. This is marked by the long yellow line. The small blue diamonds show the location of magnetopause crossings and the small teal (dirty green) diamonds show the neutral sheet crossings. The two short blue bars show the location of a lunar eclipse of some of the spacecraft. The reference spacecraft for this plot (i.e. defining perigee and boundary crossings) is spacecraft 1 (Rumba).

    As a general rule we avoid instrument operations from one hour before each manoeuvre until eight hours after each manoeuvre. Thus the effect of the planned manoeuvres will be to inhibit operations in the following regions:
    perigee and northern cusp on orbit 304 northern cusp and magnetopause on orbit 305
    southern cusp and magnetopause on orbit 306 both cusps, magnetopauses and magnetosheath on orbit 307
    both cusps, magnetopauses and magnetosheath on orbit 309 perigee on orbit 311
    northern lobe on orbit 312 southern lobe on orbit 313
    neutral sheet on orbit 315 perigee on orbit 317
    perigee on orbit 319
    Note that we still have good opportunities to sample the skimming magnetopause on orbits 308 and 310 (only a modest increase in ram pressure above its median is needed to cause magnetopause crossings on orbit 310). We also have a good opportunity for payload operations during the short lunar eclipse on orbit 313.

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Switch to Maspalomas

    From 15 September 2002 Maspalomas will take over from Redu as the second Cluster ground station. This switchover will impact science data-taking as follows:

  • Tests of telemetry downlink to Maspalomas will result in science data-taking being "at risk" for some short periods (but only on one spacecraft at a time). These tests will be arranged to minimise the impact on data return.
  • The amount of data-taking in the period 16 September to 02 October (orbits 342 to 347, PP 122 and 123) has been reduced to 105% equivalent normal mode. This provides increased margin in case of problems during the transition.

    Long eclipses 2002

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of long eclipses (up to 4 hours duration) in early September 2002 - near the apogees of orbits 336 to 338. In order to conserve power during these eclipses there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before the start of each eclipse until 12 hours after the end of each eclipse. This is shown in the appropriate Bryant plots.

    In the cases that the eclipse duration is less than 2 hours, data-taking will continue through the eclipse -- but only on those spacecraft that experience a short eclipse. This difference between operations on different spacecraft is NOT shown on the Bryant plots.

    Attitude manoeuvres, October 2002

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place between 19:00 and 23:00 on 7 October 2002 (apogee of orbit 351). In case any trim manoeuvres are required after the attitude manoeuvres, an additional manoeuvre period has been scheduled at 05:30 on 16 October 2002 (perigee of orbit 355).

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during both manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after the manoeuvre period and most of the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These two periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2003

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place between 10:00 and 18:00 on 15 January 2003 (apogee of orbit 393). Orbit trim manoeuvres are planned after the attitude manoeuvres and have been scheduled for a short period around 03:30 on 24 January 2003 (perigee of orbit 397).

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during both manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after the manoeuvre period and most of the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These two periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    Attitude manoeuvres, April 2003

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude of the Cluster spacecraft within the requ ired limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place between 07:00 and 11:30 on 25 April 20 03 (apogee of orbit 435). No orbit trim manoeuvres are currently planned after these attitude manoeuvres a s the expected drift is small and unlikely to cause a major perturbation of the tetrah edron before the next orbit manoeuvres start in early June 2003.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during both manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after the manoeuvre period and most of the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres w ill be switched on 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These two periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    Orbit manoeuvres, June 2003

    In June 2003 the Cluster separation will be decreased from about 5000 km up to about 200 km. A table of the manoeuvres planned to achieve this decrease has been provided by ESOC and made available here in PDF format. This presents the date, time and duration of each manoeuvre on each of the four spacecraft.

    To show the impact of these manoeuvres on science operations, the figure below uses the Bryant plot format to show their location with respect to scientific regions and events. The manoeuvre start times are marked by black squares (spacecraft 1), red diamonds (2), green circles (3) and magenta triangles (4) - in line with the standard plotting convention for Cluster. Solid symbols show manoeuvre start times while open symbols show manoeuvre end times. In many cases the manoeuvre durations are only a few minutes or seconds - and thus not distinguishable from the start times on the scale of this plot. The only exception to this is 12 hour period planned for slew and spin manoeuvres. This is marked by the long yellow line. The small blue asterisks show the location of magnetopause crossings and the small blue plus signs show the plasmasheet entry and exit. The reference spacecraft for this plot (i.e. defining perigee and boundary crossings) is spacecraft 1 (Rumba).

    As a general rule we avoid instrument operations from one hour before each manoeuvre until eight hours after each manoeuvre. Thus the effect of the planned manoeuvres will be to inhibit operations in the following regions:
    outbound leg of orbit 452 including the magnetopause crossing inbound leg of orbit 453 including the magnetopause crossing
    outbound magnetopause on orbit 454 inbound magnetosheath and magnetopause on orbit 456
    perigee on orbit 458 outbound magnetopause on orbit 459
    inbound leg of orbit 460 inbound leg of orbit 462 but after the skimming magnetopause encounter
    perigee on orbit 464 perigee on orbit 466
    perigee on orbit 468
    Note that we still have good opportunities to sample the skimming magnetopause on orbits 461 to 464 (only a modest increase in ram pressure above its median is needed to cause magnetopause crossings on orbit 463).

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Long eclipses 2003

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of long eclipses (3 to 4 hours duration on all four spacecraft) in early September 2003 - near the apogees of orbits 491 and 492. In order to conserve power during these eclipses there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before the start of each eclipse until 12 hours after the end of each eclipse. This is shown in the appropriate Bryant plots.

    There are also short eclipses (less than 2 hours duration on all four spacecraft) near the apogee of orbit 490. It is expected that there will be data-taking during these eclipses, but this is subject to confirmation.

    Attitude manoeuvres, Autumn 2003

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place during three periods in late September/early October as follows:

  • 26 September, 18:00 to 23:00 UTC (outbound leg of orbit 500), PP175
  • 29/30 September, 22:00 to 01:00 UTC (inbound leg of orbit 501), PP176
  • 8 October, 04:10 to 05:10 UTC (perigee at start of orbit 505), PP177

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after the manoeuvre period and most of the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking extra periods of BM1 have been added as f ollows:

  • 1.3 hours at interior cusp on orbit 500
  • 2.0 hours at neutral sheet crossing on orbit 501
  • 1.5 hours at neutral sheet crossing on orbit 504

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2004

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place during during three periods in January 2004 as follows:

  • 07 January 2004, 14:00 to 20:00 (orbit 543, around apogee)
  • 09 January 2004, 12:00 to 21:00 (orbit 544, outbound bow shock to apogee)
  • 16 January 2004, around 01:45 (perigee of orbit 547)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after the manoeuvre period and most of the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking extra periods of BM1 have been added as follows:

  • 3 hours at the outbound bow shock on orbit 543
  • 3 hours just after apogee (in the solar wind) on orbit 544
  • 1.7 hours at the outbound bow shock on orbit 547

    Orbit manoeuvres, May/June 2004

    In May 2004 the Cluster separation will be increased from about 200 km up to 1300/1000 km. A detailed table of the planned manoeuvres has been prepared by ESOC and can be downloaded as a PDF file (new version dated 30 March).

    This is an update of an earlier plan dated 26 February (PDF file). The old plan has been retained here for completeness of the historical record since it was used to set up the safety windows in the Master Science Plan. The two manoeuvre plans are consistent within the safety margins used in MSP preparation. Thus the safety windows have not been changed so that priority can be given to other issues that are important for the overall scientific return.

    To show the impact of these manoeuvres on science operations, the figure below uses the Bryant plot format to show their location with respect to scientific regions and events. The manoeuvre start times are marked by black squares (spacecraft 1), red diamonds (2), green circles (3) and magenta triangles (4) - in line with the standard plotting convention for Cluster. Solid symbols show manoeuvre start times while open symbols show manoeuvre end times. In many cases the manoeuvre durations are only a few minutes or seconds - and thus not distinguishable from the start times on the scale of this plot. The reference spacecraft for this plot (i.e. defining perigee and boundary crossings) is spacecraft 1 (Rumba).

    As a general rule we avoid instrument operations from one hour before each manoeuvre until eight hours after each manoeuvre. Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, August 2004

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place during during two periods in August 2004 as follows:

  • 22 August 2004, 00:15 to 02:30 (orbit 639, around apogee)
  • 28 August 2004, around 10:30 (perigee of orbit 642)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after the manoeuvre period and most of the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking extra periods of BM1 have been added as follows:

  • 2 hours in the plasmasheet on orbit 639 during a conjunction with Double Star TC-1
  • 2 hour period in the plasmasheet on orbit 642 extended to 3 hours

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, December 2004

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place during during two periods in December 2004 as follows:

  • 09 December 2004, 16:30 to 19:30 (orbit 685, around apogee)
  • 15 December 2004, around 20:00 (perigee of orbit 688)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking extra periods of BM1 have been added as follows:

  • 1.5 hour period at the outbound magnetopause on orbit 685 extended to 3.6 hours
  • 2.2 hours at the outbound bow shock on orbit 688

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, March 2005

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place during during two periods in March 2005 as follows:

  • 14 March 2005, 10:30 to 16:00 (orbit 725, before apogee)
  • 23 March 2005, around 08:30 (perigee of orbit 729)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking, the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • added new BM of 2 hours in the northern cusp on orbit 725
  • extended BM at outbound bow shock on orbit 726 by 36 mins
  • added new BM of 1.5 hours at outbound bow shock on orbit 727
  • BM on orbit 728 moved from bow shock to magnetopause and adjusted to 2.5 hours
  • BM on orbit 729 moved from magnetopause to solar wind and adjusted to 2 hours

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, October 2005

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place on 5/6 October 2005 from 19:00 to 00:40 (orbit 811, before apogee). As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots. To balance this loss of data-taking, a new BM of 1.9 hours is placed at in the northern cusp on orbit 811.

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Phasing manoeuvres, November 2005

    Manoeuvres to adjust the separation of the Cluster spacecraft will take place during during three periods in November 2005 as follows:

  • 02 November, 17:21 to 20:52 (drift start manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 823)
  • 14 November, 16:05 to 18:51 (drift stop manoeuvre, location TBD)
  • 19 November, 10:15 to 16:46 (trim manoeuvre, location TBD)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking, the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • added new BM of 2 hours at skimming magnetopause on orbit 823
  • extended BM (3 hours rather than 1) at inbound magnetopause on orbit 828
  • extended BM (3 hours rather than 1) at inbound magnetopause on orbit 830

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2006

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in January 2006:

  • 06 January, 12:00 to 15:00 (attitude manoeuvres, from outbound magnetopause to bow shock on orbit 850)
  • 13 January, 03:30 to 06:00 (trim manoeuvres, around perigee of orbit 853)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking, the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • extended BM (3.7 hours rather than 1.5) at inbound bow shock on orbit 850
  • extended BM (3 hours rather than 1) at inbound magnetopause on orbit 853

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, April 2006

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in April 2006:

  • 07 April, 07:00 to 20:30 (attitude manoeuvres, during the solar wind period on orbit 888)

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking, the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • extended BM (4.0 hours rather than 2.5) at outbound bow shock on orbit 888
  • new BM (2.3 hours) at inbound magnetopause on orbit 888

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Phasing manoeuvres, May/June 2006

    Manoeuvres to adjust the separation of the Cluster spacecraft will take place during during four periods in May and June 2006 as follows:

  • 19 May, 07:03 to 08:13 (drift start manoeuvres, around perigee of orbit 906)
  • 14 June, 10:23 to 13:06 (drift stop manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 917)
  • 21 June, 13:44 to 16:26 (trim manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 920)
  • 28 June, 16:39 to 19:42 (trim manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 923) To aid long-term planning we allow a 20 minute margin on the time of the manoeuv res.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking, the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • new BM (1.7 hours) at inbound bow shock on orbit 906
  • extended BM (2.8 hours rather than 1.6) at inbound magnetopause on orbit 917
  • extended BM (3.6 hours rather than 3) at outbound magnetopause on orbit 918
  • extended BM (3.1 hours rather than 1.5) at inbound magnetopause on orbit 920

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, July 2006

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in July 2006:

  • 11 July, 07:00 to 10:00 (sc 1 & 2)
  • 12 July, 12:00 to 15:30 (sc 3 & 4) These both fall during orbit 928 on the outbound and inbound legs respectively. In addition trim manoeuvres are planned:
  • 20 July, 03:30 to 04:30 (all sc) which is around perigee at start of orbit 932.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    In response to the attitude manoeuvre changes the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • extended BM (1.8 hours rather than 1.5) at plasmasheet on orbit 927
  • old BM (3 hours) at plasmasheet on orbit 928 deleted as most instruments wil l then be off following the first attitude manoeuvres
  • new BM (2.9 hours) at plasmasheet on orbit 929
  • due to pressure of deadlines, no BM adjustment was made for the trim manoeuv res.

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Long eclipses 2006

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses in mid-September 2006. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below. Due to the latest power constraints the SSRs will be emptied before each eclipse. Thus no burst mode adjustment will be made to balance the no-data-taking periods (as has been the practice in previous long eclipse seasons). Given the absence of burst mode balancing, the payload off periods have not been consolidated to focus on 3 or 4 spacecraft operations (as was also done in previous seasons). The payload off periods are restricted to those requested by ESOC.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on
    2 08/09/2006 17:00 09/09/2006 06:00
    2 10/09/2006 17:00 11/09/2006 15:30
    3 10/09/2006 19:00 11/09/2006 13:00
    4 10/09/2006 21:00 11/09/2006 14:30
    3 13/09/2006 00:00 13/09/2006 22:00
    2 13/09/2006 02:00 14/09/2006 00:00
    4 13/09/2006 02:00 14/09/2006 00:00
    3 15/09/2006 09:00 16/09/2006 07:00
    4 15/09/2006 10:30 16/09/2006 08:30
    1 15/09/2006 13:30 21/09/2006 02:00
    2 15/09/2006 19:30 16/09/2006 00:00
    3 18/09/2006 00:00 18/09/2006 08:00
    4 18/09/2006 01:30 18/09/2006 09:30
    These periods fall on the outbound legs of orbits 953 to 957

    The only period in which all four payloads will be switched off simultaneously is 19:30 to 24:00 on 15 September. This period is shown on the appropriate Bryant plots. The other periods are not displayed on the Bryant plots (the plotting software does not have the capability to handle these periods).

    Attitude manoeuvres, October 2006

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in October 2006:

  • 16 Oct, 18:30 (sc 2)
  • 16 Oct, 21:00 (sc 1)
  • 17 Oct, 08:30 (sc 3)
  • 17 Oct, 15:30 (sc 4)
    These all fall during orbit 969. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. This restriction is required to allow time to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Given the dispersion of manoeuvre times, each payload will put separately into its manoeuvre safe modes (i.e. there will be no coordinated payload-off periods). This means that, at any time during the manoeuvre period, there will be two, and often three, payloads operating. This approach also ensures clean operation of FGM extended mode during payload-off periods, because the off period on each spacecraft is limited to about 8 hours.

    As no coordinated payload-off periods are planned there will be no adjustments to BM1 periods.

    No trim manoeuvres are planned as phasing manoeuvres will take place during November.

    Phasing manoeuvres, November/December 2006

    Manoeuvres to adjust the separation of the Cluster spacecraft will take place during during four periods in November and December 2006 as follows:

  • 01 Nov, 19:18 to 22:48 (drift start manoeuvres, around perigee of orbit 976)
  • 23 Nov, 04:41 to 06:38 (drift stop manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 985)
  • 30 Nov, 08:53 to 09:56 (trim manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 988)
  • 07 Dec, 11:20 to 13.10 (trim manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 991)

    There will be no science data-taking for a period around each manoeuvre as many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during so they are not damaged by gases released during the manoeuvres. Given the closeness of manoeuvre times, these payload switch-offs will be coordinated into periods covering manoeuvres on all four spacecraft as shown in the table below. The no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period.

    DatePayload offAdditional BM1
    01 Nov18:18 to 05:48 2.2 hrs at outbound magnetopause on orbit 976
    23 Nov 03:41 to 13:38 1.8 hrs at inbound magnetopause on orbit 984
    30 Nov 07:53 to 16:56 1.8 hrs at inbound magnetopause on orbit 987
    07 Dec 10:20 to 20:10 1.8 hrs at inbound magnetopause on orbit 991

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2007

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in January 2007:

  • 11 Jan, 10:45 (sc 3)
  • 11 Jan, 12:35 (sc 1)
  • 11 Jan, 14:45 (sc 2)
  • 11 Jan, 16:35 (sc 4)
    These all fall during orbit 1005. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before the first manoeuvre until seven hours after the last manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. The no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period (2.7 hours at the inbound bow shock on orbit 1003).

    Trim manoeuvres are planned to take place around 08:00 on 19 January (perigee of orbit 1009). There will be a similar no-data-taking period around these manoeuvres. This will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period (1.4 hours at inbound magnetopause on orbit 1010).

    Attitude manoeuvres, April 2007

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in April 2007:

  • 18 Apr, 09:30 (sc 2)
  • 18 Apr, 10:00 (sc 4)
  • 18 Apr, 11:00 (sc 1)
  • 18 Apr, 11:30 (sc 3)
    These all fall during orbit 1046. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 30 minutes before the first manoeuvre until six hours after the last manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. The no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period (1.5 hours at outbound magnetopause of orbit 1046).

    No trim manoeuvres are planned as the Cluster phasing manoeuvres will follow soon after (end of May).

    Phasing manoeuvres, May/July 2007

    Manoeuvres to adjust the separation of the Cluster spacecraft will take place during during four periods in May to July 2007 as follows:

  • 25 May, 10:20 to 17:10 (drift start manoeuvres, around perigee of orbit 1062 )
  • 20 June, 10:18 to 14:39 (drift stop manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 1073)
  • 27 June, 13:40 to 17:50 (trim manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 1076)
  • 04 July, 17:04 to 21:06 (trim manoeuvre, around perigee of orbit 1079) The drift manoeuvres will affect only spacecraft 1, 2 and 3 - while the trim man oeuvres will affect all four spacecraft.

    To reduce the risk of collision during the manoeuvres, spacecraft 3 will have two additional manoeuvres on 24 May at 04:23 and 22:19.

    To aid long-term planning we allow a margin on the time of each manoeuvres. T his is typically 10 minutes, but in a few cases on spacecraft 3 we allow larger marg ins: the two additional manoeuvres on 24 May have 2 hours margin, while the 25 May manoeuvre has 1 hour margin.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until several hours after the manoeuvre period and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will be switched on at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. These periods are shown on the appropriate Bryant plots.

    To balance this loss of data-taking, the BM1 periods have been adjusted as follows:

  • BM1 at outbound bow shock on orbit 1062 extended from 2.5 to 4.0 hours.
  • BM1 at outbound magnetopause on orbit 1072 extended from 2.5 to 4.0 hours.
  • added 1 hr BM1 at inbound magnetopause on orbit 1073
  • added 1.5 hr BM1 at perigee (sc3/4) of orbit 1075
  • added 0.9 hr BM1 at inbound magnetopause on orbit 1076
  • added 2.4 hr BM1 at inbound magnetopause on orbit 1078

    Note that the restriction of payload operations around the manoeuvres is required to allow time for configuration of the spacecraft and to protect those instruments that are sensitive to gases released during the manoeuvres.

    Attitude manoeuvres, July 2007

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in July 2007:

  • 25 July, 06:30 (sc 1)
  • 25 July, 12:00 (sc 2)
  • 25 July, 13:00 (sc 3)
  • 25 July, 14:30 (sc 4)
    These all fall during orbit 1087. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft for a period around its manoeuvre time. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. The no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period (1 hour at the perigee of orbit 1088).

    As the sc1 manoeuvre is well-separated in time this has a separate no data-taking period from 05:15 to 09:30. The closely space manoeuvres on sc2, 3 and 4 will have a common no data-taking period from 11:15 to 19:25. This approach reduces the complexity of the commanding while retaining a scheduled WBD MSO operation from 09:46 to 11:39.

    Trim manoeuvres are planned as follows:

  • 2 Aug, 08:30 (sc 2)
  • 2 Aug, 10:30 (sc 1)
  • 2 Aug, 16:00 (sc 4)
  • 2 Aug, 17:00 (sc 3)
    These all fall around the perigee of orbit 1091. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft for a period around its manoeuvre time. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. The no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period (3 hours rather than 1.5 hours at the plasmasheet crossing on orbit 1091).

    As the manoeuvres fall naturally in two pairs, there will be two separate no-data-taking periods: (a) 07:15 to 15:55 for sc 1 and 2; and (b) 14:45 to 23:25 for sc 3 and 4. This approach reduces the complexity of the commanding while avoiding a very long no-data-taking period.

    Long eclipses 2007

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses in mid-September 2007. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below. (Type NOF indicates that FGM will remain powered on and may collect low-resolution data; type ALL indicates that all instruments are powered off.) Due to the latest power constraints the SSRs will be emptied before each eclipse. Thus no burst mode adjustment will be made to balance the no-data-taking periods (as was the practice in long eclipse seasons of 2001-2005). Given the absence of burst mode balancing, the payload off periods have not been consolidated to focus on 3 or 4 spacecraft operations (as was also done in previous seasons). The payload off periods are restricted to those requested by ESOC.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Type
    2 14/09/2007 06:00 15/09/2007 01:00 NOF
    2 16/09/2007 14:00 17/09/2007 08:00 NOF
    4 16/09/2007 19:00 17/09/2007 08:00 NOF
    3 16/09/2007 22:30 17/09/2007 08:00 NOF
    3 19/09/2007 01:00 19/09/2007 18:00 ALL
    4 19/09/2007 01:00 19/09/2007 18:00 NOF
    2 19/09/2007 05:00 19/09/2007 12:00 NOF
    1 21/09/2007 06:00 29/09/2007 02:00 ALL
    3 21/09/2007 11:00 22/09/2007 02:00 ALL
    4 21/09/2007 11:00 22/09/2007 02:00 NOF
    4 23/09/2007 22:00 24/09/2007 11:00 NOF
    3 24/09/2007 00:00 24/09/2007 11:00 NOF

    These periods fall on the outbound legs of orbits 1109 to 1113, except for the long off-period on spacecraft 1. This starts late on orbit 1111, spans all of orbits 1112 to 1114 and ends on the outbound leg of orbit 1115.

    There are no periods when all four payloads are switched off simultaneously. Thus no gaps are displayed on the Bryant plots (the plotting software does not have the capability to handle the the individual payload-off periods).

    Attitude manoeuvres, October 2007

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in October 2007:

  • 24 October, 18:00 (sc 2)
  • 24 October, 19:30 (sc 3)
  • 24 October, 21:00 (sc 4)
  • 24 October, 23:00 (sc 1)
    These all fall during orbit 1126.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft for a period around its manoeuvre time:

  • on spacecraft 2 from 16;50 to 18:20
  • on all four spacecraft from 18:20 to 21:00
  • on spacecraft 1 and 4 from 21:00 to 22:00
  • on spacecraft 1 from 22:00 to 24:00

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period. The 4-spacecraft no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode away from the manoeuvre period (BM at the plasmasheet crossing in orbit 1126 extended from 3.5 to 3.9 hrs). Trim manoeuvres are not planned as the orbit phasing manoeuvres will follow shortly.

    Phasing manoeuvres, October/November/December 2007

    A series of manoeuvres to adjust the separation of the Cluster spacecraft will take place between late October and mid-December 2007. The manoeuvre times and durations are shown below; a blank entry indicates where the duration time is not yet known and as it is dependent on the performance of earlier manouevres. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft for a period around each of its manoeuvre times. See the notes below for details. Four-spacecraft off periods are given in a separate table below. During the manoeuvres on 10 November, data-taking will continue on all four spacecraft to allow FGM and WEC measurements on all spacecraft while Rosetta is in the far tail region.

    ScManoeuvre startDuration (s)Notes
    42007-10-30T18:48:49Z6128.1 No data 17:38 to 03:40
    22007-11-02T06:00:00Z5420.84 No data 04:50 to 14:40
    12007-11-04T13:18:44Z4119.17 No data 12:08 to 21:37
    32007-11-04T14:25:00Z5751.2 No data 13:15 to 23:10
    32007-11-05T15:23:00Z1197.47 No data 14:13 to 22:52
    42007-11-08T03:02:33Z1713.5 No data 01:52 to 10:41
    32007-11-10T08:55:21Z18.74 4 s/c remain on - Rosetta in far tail
    12007-11-10T09:58:34Z1301.88 4 s/c remain on - Rosetta in far tail
    22007-11-10T10:55:27Z1561.35 4 s/c remain on - Rosetta in far tail
    42007-11-16T10:39:13Z5804.83 4 s/c off
    12007-11-16T12:20:00Z4362.15 4 s/c off
    22007-11-16T13:40:00Z3877.68 4 s/c off
    32007-11-18T17:44:51Z5570.06 No data 16:34 to 02:27
    32007-11-22T05:22:29Z223.91 4 s/c off
    12007-11-22T05:47:48Z18.32 4 s/c off
    42007-11-22T06:31:42Z23.2 4 s/c off
    22007-11-22T06:51:04Z19.32 4 s/c off
    12007-11-23T14:50:13Z146.55 4 s/c off
    42007-11-23T14:51:20Z212.62 4 s/c off
    22007-11-23T16:15:08Z173.89 4 s/c off
    32007-11-23T18:12:16Z149.24 4 s/c off
    32007-11-28T22:09:26Z No data 12:09 28 Nov to 05:57 1 Dec - spans 4 s/c off on 29 Nov
    12007-11-29T09:04:19Z3.66 4 s/c off
    42007-11-29T09:44:30Z3.87 4 s/c off
    22007-11-29T10:02:57Z3.86 4 s/c off
    32007-11-29T19:57:27Z No data 12:09 28 Nov to 05:57 1 Dec - spans 4 s/c off on 29 Nov
    32007-12-04T03:56:25Z223.84 No data 02:46 to 11:10
    12007-12-06T12:23:54Z 4 s/c off
    42007-12-06T13:01:22Z 4 s/c off
    22007-12-06T13:18:39Z 4 s/c off
    32007-12-08T22:05:44Z179.42 No data 20:55 to 05:18
    32007-12-13T16:14:02Z180.59 No data 15:04 to 23:27

    In cases where three payloads are simultaneously in no data-taking modes, we stop data-taking on all spacecraft. This allows us to balance the data-taking at MSP level by adding extra burst mode as shown in the table below.

    No-data-taking startNo-data-taking end Extra BM
    2007-11-16T09:29:00Z 2007-11-16T21:54:00Z 2.4 hours BM at inbound magnetopause on orbit 1133
    2007-11-22T04:12:00Z 2007-11-22T14:01:00Z 4.1 hours BM at outbound magnetopause on orbit 1138
    2007-11-23T13:40:00Z 2007-11-24T01:24:00Z as above
    2007-11-29T07:54:00Z 2007-11-29T17:13:00Z tbd
    2007-12-06T11:13:00Z 2007-12-06T20:28:00Z tbd

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2008

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in January 2008:

  • 28 January, 12:00 (sc 2)
  • 28 January, 13:30 (sc 3)
  • 28 January, 15:00 (sc 4)
  • 28 January, 16:30 (sc 1)
    These all fall during orbit 1166. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft from 11:45 to 23:30 on 28 January. This no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode (2.3h) at the outbound magnetopause on orbit 1168.

    Trim manoeuvres are planned on all four spacecraft at 15:00 on 4 February. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft from 14:45 to 22:00 on 4 February. This no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode (1.3h) at the inbound bow shock on orbit 1169.

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Attitude and tilt manoeuvres, April-May 2008

    Manoeuvres to maintain the attitude and spin of the Cluster spacecraft within the required limits (with respect to the Sun) will take place in April 2008:

  • 25 April, 09:00 (sc 3)
  • 25 April, 10:30 (sc 4)
  • 25 April, 12:00 (sc 1)
  • 25 April, 13:00 (sc 2)
    These all fall early in orbit 1203. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on each spacecraft from 08:00 to 15:00 on 25 April. This no-data-taking period will be balanced by additional burst mode (1.2h) at the apogee of orbit 1203.

    Following these manoeuvres there will be a series of manoeuvres to alter the tilt of spacecraft 3 in order to study the effect of spacecraft orientation on measurements. These will be complemented by trim manoeuvres to keep spacecraft 3 close to spacecraft 4. These manoeuvres are as follows:
    TimeManoeuvre type
    2008-04-28T08:00:00ZTilt
    2008-04-30T21:00:00ZTrim
    2008-05-07T23:30:00ZTrim
    2008-05-14T08:00:00ZTilt
    2008-05-19T22:00:00ZTrim
    2008-05-30T08:00:00ZTilt
    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking on spacecraft 3 for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre.

    There will be no trim manoeuvres on the other spacecraft.

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Orbit phasing and attitude manoeuvres, Jul-Aug 2008

    A series of manoeuvres to adjust the separation and attitude of the Cluster spacecraft will take place in June to August 2008. The manoeuvre times and durations are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. Note that we stop data-taking on all s/c even if there are manoeuvres on only three spacecraft.

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Drift start manoeuvres

  • 11 June, 11:18 (sc 2)
  • 11 June, 11:31 (sc 3)
  • 11 June, 11:56 (sc 1)

    No data-taking from 11 June 09:38 to 11 June 19:11

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 18 June, 13:30 (sc 2)
  • 18 June, 14:00 (sc 3)
  • 18 June, 14:15 (sc 1)

    No data-taking from 18 June 12:15 to 18 June 21:30

    Drift stop manoeuvres

  • 28 July, 22:02 (sc 2)
  • 28 July, 22:43 (sc 1)
  • 28 July, 23:42 (sc 3)

    No data-taking from 28 July 20:47 to 29 July 06:57

    Attitude manoeuvres

  • 30 July, 12:30 (sc 2)
  • 30 July, 13:30 (sc 1)
  • 30 July, 14:30 (sc 3)
  • 30 July, 15:30 (sc 4)

    No data-taking from 30 July 11:45 to 30 July 22:45

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 02 August, 16:18 (sc 2)
  • 02 August, 16:58 (sc 1)
  • 02 August, 17:58 (sc 3)
  • 02 August, 18:52 (sc 4)

    No data-taking from 02 August 15:03 to 02 August 02:07

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 09 August, 19:44 (sc 2)
  • 09 August, 20:22 (sc 1)
  • 09 August, 21:19 (sc 3)
  • 09 August, 22:14 (sc 4)

    No data-taking from 09 August 18:29 to 10 August 00:00

    Long eclipses 2008

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses between 19 September and 10 October 2008. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below. Type NOF indicates that FGM will remain powered on and may collect low-resolution data; type ALL indicates that all active instruments are powered off (note that ASPOC is no longer active and will remain switched off). There is also a short penumbral eclipse on spacecraft 2 on 17 September (08:03 to 08:51); payload operations will continue during this eclipse.

    EDI is an exception to this plan. The EDI instrument on each spacecraft will be powered off at the start of long eclipses for that spacecraft. It will be re-started under manual control by ESOC after the end of long eclipses on each spacecraft. See the EDI status column in the table.

    Due to the latest power constraints the SSRs will be emptied before each eclipse. Thus no burst mode adjustment will be made to balance the no-data-taking periods (as was the practice in long eclipse seasons of 2001-2005). Given the absence of burst mode balancing, the payload off periods have not been consolidated to focus on 3 or 4 spacecraft operations (as was also done in previous seasons). The payload off periods are restricted to those requested by ESOC.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Type EDI status
    2 19/09/2008 07:42 20/09/2008 00:31 NOF Off at payload off
    2 21/09/2008 16:12 22/09/2008 09:21 NOF
    2 24/09/2008 00:58 24/09/2008 17:51 NOF
    3 24/09/2008 05:19 24/09/2008 17:51 NOF Off at payload off
    4 24/09/2008 05:19 24/09/2008 17:51 NOF Off at payload off
    2 26/09/2008 09:43 26/09/2008 21:04 NOF Restart after payload on
    3 26/09/2008 09:43 27/09/2008 02:42 ALL
    4 26/09/2008 09:43 27/09/2008 02:42 ALL
    1 28/09/2008 18:23 29/09/2008 12:00 ALL Off at payload off
    3 28/09/2008 18:23 29/09/2008 12:00 ALL
    4 28/09/2008 18:23 29/09/2008 12:00 ALL
    1 01/10/2008 03:10 01/10/2008 20:26 ALL
    3 01/10/2008 03:10 01/10/2008 20:26 ALL
    4 01/10/2008 03:10 01/10/2008 20:26 ALL
    1 03/10/2008 12:05 04/10/2008 05:08 ALL
    3 03/10/2008 12:05 04/10/2008 05:08 ALL
    4 03/10/2008 12:05 04/10/2008 05:08 NOF
    1 05/10/2008 21:17 06/10/2008 13:42 ALL
    3 06/10/2008 03:10 06/10/2008 08:06 NOF Restart after payload on
    4 06/10/2008 03:10 06/10/2008 08:06 NOF Restart after payload on
    1 08/10/2008 06:14 08/10/2008 22:08 ALL
    1 10/10/2008 17:21 11/10/2008 03:26 ALL Restart after payload on

    These periods fall on orbits 1265 to 1274. They typically start a few hours before perigee and end around 15 hours after perigee - as shown in the figure below. Thus the payload off periods cover the perigee region, the interior cusp crossings (close to perigee) and the plasmasheet crossings. To illustrate this, the time of the Cluster 1 neutral sheet crossings (NS) is also shown in the figure.

    Cluster long eclipses 2008

    There are no periods when all four payloads are switched off simultaneously. Thus no gaps are displayed on the Bryant plots (the plotting software does not have the capability to handle the the individual payload-off periods).

    Orbit phasing and attitude manoeuvres, Nov-Dec 2008

    A series of manoeuvres to adjust the separation and attitude of the Cluster spacecraft will take place in November and December 2008. The manoeuvre times and durations are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Drift start manoeuvres

  • 10 Nov, 16:09 (sc 2)
  • 10 Nov, 16:21 (sc 1)
  • 10 Nov, 16:40 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 10 Nov 14:59 to 10 Nov 23:52

    Attitude manoeuvres

  • 11 Nov, 12:00 (sc 1)
  • 11 Nov, 13:30 (sc 2)
  • 11 Nov, 15:00 (sc 3)
  • 11 Nov, 16:30 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 11 Nov 10:50 to 11 Nov 23:52

    Additional drift manoeuvre

  • 15 Nov, 11:38 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on s/c 3 from 15 Nov 10:28 to 15 Nov 17:59

    Drift stop/trim manoeuvres

  • 27 Nov, 08:43 (sc 4)
  • 27 Nov, 09:05 (sc 1)
  • 27 Nov, 09:08 (sc 2)
  • 27 Nov, 11:52 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 27 Nov 07:33 to 27 Nov 19:09

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 02 Dec, 02:47 (sc 1)
  • 02 Dec, 02:51 (sc 2)
  • 02 Dec, 05:34 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 02 Dec 01:37 to 02 Dec 12:45

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 06 Dec, 20:58 (sc 1)
  • 06 Dec, 21:03 (sc 4)
  • 06 Dec, 21:03 (sc 2)
  • 06 Dec, 23:45 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 06 Dec 19:48 to 07 Dec 06:56

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 11 Dec, 15:08 (sc 1)
  • 11 Dec, 15:13 (sc 2)
  • 11 Dec, 17:55 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 11 Dec 13:58 to 12 Dec 01:06

    In six out of seven cases above, we have closely-spaced manoeuvres on 3 or 4 spacecraft. In these cases we stop data-taking on all four spacecraft. This is then balanced by additional burst mode at other times. See the MSP for this period.


    Lunar eclipse, 28 December 2008

    The Cluster 1, 2 and 4 spacecraft will experience lunar eclipses on 28 December 2008:

  • In the case of spacecraft 1 there will not be enough power to operate the payload between 15:37 and 17:35. So the active instruments will either be switched off (CIS, FGM, PEACE and WEC) or put in standby mode (EDI and RAPID) for this period. The use of standby mode avoids the risk that instrument patches have to be reloaded. In addition, the HPA shall be switched off from 15:46 to 17:27, so no WBD passes will be possible during that period.
  • In the case of spacecraft 2, science data-taking will continue as normal for a short eclipse case.
  • In the case of spacecraft 3, there is no eclipse, so science data-taking will continue as normal.
  • In the case of spacecraft 4, science data-taking will continue as normal for a short eclipse case. But the HPA shall be switched off from 15:19 to 16:56, so no WBD passes will be possible during that period.

    Attitude manoeuvres, Feb 2009

    A series of manoeuvres to adjust the separation and attitude of the Cluster spacecraft will take place in February 2009. The manoeuvre times and durations are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Attitude manoeuvres

  • 05 Feb, 14:30 (sc 1)
  • 05 Feb, 13:30 (sc 2)
  • 05 Feb, 11:30 (sc 3)
  • 05 Feb, 12:30 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 05 Feb 10:30 to 05 Feb 21:30

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 11 Feb, 11:55 (sc 1)
  • 11 Feb, 11:56 (sc 2)
  • 11 Feb, 14:43 (sc 3)
  • 11 Feb, 12:01 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on all s/c from 11 Feb 10:55 to 11 Feb 15:33

    In both cases above, we have closely-spaced manoeuvres on 3 or 4 spacecraft. Thus we stop data-taking on all four spacecraft. This is then balanced by additional burst mode at other times. See the MSP for this period.

    Short eclipses, Feb to May 2009

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of short eclipses on 37 orbit s between 16 February and 12 May 2009. During some of these eclipses there will no t be enough power to operate the payloads on spacecraft 1, 3 and 4. Thus the paylo ads on these spacecraft will switched off or placed in standby. The payload on space craft 2 will operate through the eclipse season.

    The payload off periods for spacecraft 1, 3 and 4 are shown in the table bel ow. During these periods there will be no data-taking and four of the instruments (CIS, FGM , PEACE and WEC) will be switched off. The handling of the other two instruments (EDI and RAPID) will be more complex: (a) EDI on s/c 1 will switched off for the duration of the eclipse season, (b) R APID on s/c 1 will be switched off during each period as for the four instruments, and (c) EDI and RAPID on s/c 3 and 4 will be placed in standby mode during the nominal off period. The standby mode is used in order to preserve instrument patches.

    Update 15 March: C3 off/on times updated from 12 April onwards; this reflects changed manoeuvre timeline in response to the Herschel-Planck launch

    Eclipse C1 off C1 on C3 off C3 on C4 off C4 on
    5 25 Feb, 16:15 25 Feb, 21:30 - - - -
    6 28 Feb, 01:30 28 Feb, 08:00 28 Feb, 06:02 28 Feb, 06:40 - -
    7 02 Mar, 07:15 02 Mar, 16:00 02 Mar, 15:06 02 Mar, 15:46 - -
    8 04 Mar, 19:30 05 Mar, 04:00 05 Mar, 00:09 05 Mar, 00:51 - -
    9 07 Mar, 03:00 07 Mar, 11:30 - - - -
    10 09 Mar, 13:30 09 Mar, 19:00 - - - -
    11 11 Mar, 22:30 12 Mar, 06:00 - - - -
    12 14 Mar, 05:30 14 Mar, 13:30 - - - -
    13 16 Mar, 17:00 17 Mar, 02:00 16 Mar, 21:35 16 Mar, 22:23 16 Mar, 18:52 16 Mar, 19:40
    14 19 Mar, 01:00 19 Mar, 09:00 19 Mar, 03:30 19 Mar, 11:30 19 Mar, 03:56 19 Mar, 04:44
    15 21 Mar, 07:30 21 Mar, 16:30 21 Mar, 13:00 21 Mar, 19:30 21 Mar, 13:00 21 Mar, 13:49
    16 23 Mar, 17:30 24 Mar, 04:15 24 Mar, 00:49 24 Mar, 01:39 23 Mar, 22:06 23 Mar, 22:55
    17 26 Mar, 03:30 26 Mar, 11:30 26 Mar, 09:55 26 Mar, 10:46 26 Mar, 07:12 26 Mar, 08:02
    18 28 Mar, 14:00 28 Mar, 20:00 28 Mar, 19:01 28 Mar, 19:51 28 Mar, 16:17 28 Mar, 17:08
    19 30 Mar, 22:45 31 Mar, 06:15 31 Mar, 04:05 31 Mar, 04:56 31 Mar, 01:21 31 Mar, 02:12
    20 02 Apr, 06:00 02 Apr, 14:30 02 Apr, 08:00 02 Apr, 17:00 02 Apr, 10:25 02 Apr, 11:17
    21 04 Apr, 16:00 05 Apr, 01:30 04 Apr, 17:30 05 Apr, 03:00 04 Apr, 19:31 04 Apr, 20:23
    22 07 Apr, 01:15 07 Apr, 09:30 07 Apr, 03:15 07 Apr, 11:30 07 Apr, 04:37 07 Apr, 05:29
    23 09 Apr, 11:30 09 Apr, 17:30 09 Apr, 16:26 09 Apr, 17:18 09 Apr, 13:43 09 Apr, 14:35
    24 11 Apr, 21:00 12 Apr, 04:00 12 Apr, 01:20 12 Apr, 02:12 11 Apr, 22:48 11 Apr, 23:40
    25 14 Apr, 04:00 14 Apr, 12:00 14 Apr, 10:13 14 Apr, 11:04 14 Apr, 07:52 14 Apr, 08:44
    26 16 Apr, 15:30 17 Apr, 00:00 16 Apr, 17:00 17 Apr, 00:30 16 Apr, 16:56 16 Apr, 17:48
    27 18 Apr, 21:30 19 Apr, 07:00 18 Apr, 22:30 19 Apr, 08:30 19 Apr, 02:01 19 Apr, 02:52
    28 21 Apr, 07:00 21 Apr, 15:00 21 Apr, 08:45 21 Apr, 16:45 21 Apr, 11:07 21 Apr, 11:58
    29 23 Apr, 18:15 24 Apr, 01:45 23 Apr, 21:48 23 Apr, 22:38 23 Apr, 20:13 23 Apr, 21:03
    30 26 Apr, 02:00 26 Apr, 09:30 26 Apr, 06:41 26 Apr, 07:30 26 Apr, 05:18 26 Apr, 06:07
    31 28 Apr, 12:30 28 Apr, 18:00 28 Apr, 15:34 28 Apr, 16:21 28 Apr, 14:22 28 Apr, 15:10
    32 30 Apr, 21:00 01 May, 07:00 01 May, 00:27 01 May, 01:13 30 Apr, 23:28 01 May, 00:14
    33 02 May, 05:30 03 May, 12:30 03 May, 09:22 03 May, 10:06 - -
    34 05 May, 15:30 06 May, 00:00 05 May, 18:18 05 May, 18:59 - -
    35 07 May, 23:30 08 May, 07:30 08 May, 03:13 08 May, 03:51 - -
    36 10 May, 10:00 10 May, 16:00 10 May, 12:09 10 May, 12:41 - -
    37 12 May, 19:00 13 May, 06:30 - - - -

    Orbit phasing manoeuvres, April/May 2009

    A series of manoeuvres to bring the Cluster-3 spacecraft closer to its sister spacecraft will take place in April and May 2009. The manoeuvre times are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Orbit drift start manoeuvre

  • 09 Apr, 15:30 (sc 3)

    Eclipse constraints require payload switch-off at 16:27. For simplicity of implementation, the manoeuvre protection is achieved by advancing payload switch-off to 14:30 (one hour before the manoeuvre). This manoeuvre was originally planned for 16 April, but was advanced to avoid any possible overlap with the Herschel-Planck launch.

    Trim manoeuvre

  • 21 Apr, 09:15 (sc 3)

    Eclipse constraints require payload switch-off at 09:00. For simplicity of implementation, the manoeuvre protection is achieved by advancing payload switch-off to 08:15 (one hour before the manoeuvre).

    Orbit drift stop manoeuvre

  • 12 May, 21:34 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on C3 from 20:34 to 04:36.

    Trim manoeuvre

  • 27 May, 06:47 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on C3 from 05:47 to 13:47.

    In all cases above, we have manoeuvres on a single spacecraft. Thus we continue data-taking on the other spacecraft, subject to their own eclipse constraints, and do not balance the lost data-taking by additional burst mode at other times.

    Attitude manoeuvres

  • 15 May, 11:00 (sc 1)
  • 15 May, 12:00 (sc 2)
  • 15 May, 13:00 (sc 3)
  • 15 May, 14:00 (sc 4)

    To minimise impact on plans for WBD operations, we will stop data-taking in a phased manner: at 10:40 on C1, at 11:40 on C2, at 12:40 on C3 and at 13:40 on C4. Data-taking will resume simultaneously on all spacecraft at 18:00. This gives a common-off period from 13:40 to 18:00; this is balanced by extending the magnetopause BM1 period on 10 May.

    Post-eclipse trim manoeuvres

  • 20 May, 02:50 (sc 1)
  • 20 May, 02:50 (sc 2)
  • 20 May, 02:50 (sc 3)
  • 20 May, 02:50 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on all spacecraft from 01:50 to 07:00. The early restart reduces impact on plans for WBD operations. This common off-period is balanced by extending the magnetopause BM1 period on 17 May.

    Orbit phasing manoeuvres, July/August 2009

    A series of manoeuvres to adjust the constellation will take place in July and August 2009. The manoeuvre times are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The no-data-taking period will sometimes end earlier in order to preserve WBD operations already scheduled. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Orbit drift start manoeuvre

  • 01 July, 20:32 (sc 1)
  • 01 July, 20:36 (sc 2)
  • 01 July, 20:16 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 19:16 to 03:39. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Orbit drift stop manoeuvre

  • 23 July, 04:58 (sc 1)
  • 23 July, 04:10 (sc 2)
  • 23 July, 06:31 (sc 3)
  • 23 July, 06:03 (sc 4) - trim?

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 03:09 to 13:03. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Trim manoeuvre

  • 30 July, 08:21 (sc 1)
  • 30 July, 07:31 (sc 2)
  • 30 July, 09:31 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 06:30 to 10:00. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Trim manoeuvre

  • 06 August, 11:38 (sc 1)
  • 06 August, 10:50 (sc 2)
  • 06 August, 12:46 (sc 3)
  • 06 August, 12:38 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 09:54 to 13:51. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Trim manoeuvre

  • 13 August, 14:59 (sc 1)
  • 13 August, 14:14 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 13:13 to 20:51. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Attitude manoeuvres, Aug/Sep 2009

    A series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitude of the Cluster spacecraft will take place in August and September 2009. The manoeuvre times and durations are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Attitude manoeuvres

  • 28 Aug, 06:00 (sc 4)
  • 28 Aug, 06:30 (sc 3)
  • 28 Aug, 07:00 (sc 2)
  • 28 Aug, 08:00 (sc 1)

    No data-taking on all spacecraft from 05:15 to 15:00.

    Trim manoeuvres

  • 04 Sep, 00:55 (sc 1)
  • 04 Sep, 00:15 (sc 2)
  • 04 Sep, 01:55 (sc 3)
  • 04 Sep, 01:50 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on all spacecraft from 23:15 (3 Sep) to 08:55.

    These two no data-taking periods are balanced by additional burst mode at other times. See the MSP for this period.

    Autumn eclipses, September to November 2009

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of eclipses on 22 orbits between 28 September and 17 November 2009. During some of these eclipses there will not be enough power to operate the payloads on some or all of the spacecraft. Thus the payloads on the affected spacecraft will switched off as shown in the table below.

    Eclipse C1 off C1 on C2 off C2 on C3 off C3 on C4 off C4 on
    1 - - 28 Sep, 00:10 28 Sep, 03:00 - - - -
    2 - - 30 Sep, 03:17 30 Sep, 17:28 - - - -
    3 - - 02 Oct, 07:52 03 Oct, 02:25 - - - -
    4 - - 04 Oct, 16:35 05 Oct, 11:45 - - - -
    5 - - 07 Oct, 03:24 07 Oct, 19:52 - - - -
    6 - - 09 Oct, 12:18 10 Oct, 04:30 09 Oct, 15:00 10 Oct, 04:30 09 Oct, 15:00 10 Oct, 04:30
    7 - - 11 Oct, 23:16 12 Oct, 14:00 12 Oct, 00:13 12 Oct, 14:00 12 Oct, 00:13 12 Oct, 14:00
    8 14 Oct, 09:02 14 Oct, 21:45 14 Oct, 08:18 14 Oct, 21:45 14 Oct, 09:02 14 Oct, 21:45 14 Oct, 09:02 14 Oct, 21:45
    9 16 Oct, 18:00 17 Oct, 07:47 16 Oct, 22:23 17 Oct, 01:18 16 Oct, 18:00 17 Oct, 07:47 16 Oct, 18:00 17 Oct, 07:47
    10 19 Oct, 02:50 19 Oct, 17:00 - - 19 Oct, 02:50 19 Oct, 17:00 19 Oct, 02:50 19 Oct, 17:00
    11 21 Oct, 11:47 22 Oct, 01:31 - - 21 Oct, 11:47 22 Oct, 01:31 21 Oct, 11:47 22 Oct, 01:31
    12 23 Oct, 20:35 24 Oct, 12:00 - - 23 Oct, 20:35 24 Oct, 12:00 23 Oct, 20:35 24 Oct, 12:00
    13 26 Oct, 05:32 26 Oct, 19:15 - - 26 Oct, 05:32 26 Oct, 19:15 26 Oct, 05:32 26 Oct, 19:15
    14 28 Oct, 14:31 29 Oct, 02:30 - - 28 Oct, 14:31 29 Oct, 02:30 28 Oct, 14:31 29 Oct, 02:30
    15 31 Oct, 01:30 31 Oct, 16:00 - - 31 Oct, 01:30 31 Oct, 16:00 31 Oct, 01:30 31 Oct, 16:00
    16 02 Nov, 10:30 02 Nov, 21:00 - - 02 Nov, 10:30 02 Nov, 21:00 02 Nov, 10:30 02 Nov, 21:00
    17 04 Nov, 18:00 05 Nov, 04:30 - - 04 Nov, 18:00 05 Nov, 04:30 04 Nov, 18:00 05 Nov, 04:30
    18 07 Nov, 05:00 07 Nov, 15:00 - - 07 Nov, 05:00 07 Nov, 15:00 07 Nov, 05:00 07 Nov, 15:00
    19 09 Nov, 14:00 09 Nov, 23:00 - - 09 Nov, 14:00 09 Nov, 23:00 09 Nov, 14:00 09 Nov, 23:00
    20 11 Nov, 23:00 12 Nov, 07:00 - - 11 Nov, 23:00 12 Nov, 07:00 11 Nov, 23:00 12 Nov, 07:00
    21 14 Nov, 08:00 14 Nov, 16:15 - - 14 Nov, 08:00 14 Nov, 16:15 14 Nov, 08:00 14 Nov, 16:15
    22 16 Nov, 17:46 17 Nov, 00:07 - - 16 Nov, 20:10 16 Nov, 22:17 16 Nov, 20:10 16 Nov, 22:17

    Attitude, apogee lowering and orbit phasing manoeuvres, November/December 2009

    A series of manoeuvres of the Cluster spacecraft will take place in November and December 2009. These will:

  • Adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun.
  • Lower the apogee to ensure that data can be downlinked throughout the orbit. This lowering, with no increase in peri gee height, will reduce the Cluster orbit period from 57.2 hours to 54.3 hours.
  • Adjust the spacecraft separation to address forthcoming science targets.

    The manoeuvre times are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The no-data-taking period will sometimes end earlier in order to preserve WBD operations already scheduled. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Attitude Manoeuvres

  • 19 Nov, 15:00 (sc 3)
  • 19 Nov, 15:45 (sc 1)
  • 19 Nov, 16:30 (sc 4)
  • 19 Nov, 17:00 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 14:00 to 00:00. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 1

  • 21 Nov, 13:23 (sc 2)
  • 21 Nov, 13:38 (sc 1)
  • 21 Nov, 14:14 (sc 3)
  • 21 Nov, 14:14 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 12:23 to 20:55. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 2

  • 26 Nov, 07:36 (sc 4)

    No data-taking on spacecraft 4 from 06:36 to 15:02. There is no BM1 balancing as only one spacecraft has no data-taking.

    Manoeuvre 3

  • 28 Nov, 14:03 (sc 1)
  • 28 Nov, 14:09 (sc 3)
  • 28 Nov, 14:10 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 13:03 to 21:05. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 4

  • 03 Dec, 02:56 (sc 1)
  • 03 Dec, 02:57 (sc 4)
  • 03 Dec, 03:00 (sc 2)
  • 03 Dec, 03:00 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 01:56 to 10:01. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 5

  • 07 Dec, 15:31 (sc 1)
  • 07 Dec, 15:33 (sc 4)
  • 07 Dec, 15:36 (sc 2)
  • 07 Dec, 15:36 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 14:31 to 22:37. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 6

  • 12 Dec, 05:58 (sc 3)
  • 12 Dec, 06:02 (sc 4)
  • 12 Dec, 06:14 (sc 1)
  • 12 Dec, 05:36 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 05:35 to 14:36. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2010

    In January 2010, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 13 Jan, 15:00 (sc 2)
  • 13 Jan, 15:45 (sc 3)
  • 13 Jan, 16:30 (sc 4)
  • 13 Jan, 17:15 (sc 1)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 14:00 to 00:15 (14 Jan). This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    There will also be trim manoeuvres thus:

  • 19 Jan, 13:31 (sc 3)
  • 19 Jan, 14:18 (sc 1)
  • 19 Jan, 14:24 (sc 4)
  • 19 Jan, 14:32 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 12:31 to 21:31. This is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Attitude manoeuvres, April 2010

    In April 2010, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 08 Apr, 07:00 (sc 3)
  • 08 Apr, 08:00 (sc 4)
  • 08 Apr, 08:30 (sc 2)
  • 08 Apr, 10:00 (sc 1)

    The no data-taking periods around the eclipse on 08 April will be extended back in time to encompass these manoeuvres, i.e. from 14:30 to 06:30 on C3, from 14:30 to 07:30 on C1 and from 18:07 to 07:30 on C2 and C4. This substantial extension is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    There will also be trim manoeuvres thus:

  • 15 Apr, 10:20 (sc 1)
  • 15 Apr, 11:30 (sc 2)
  • 15 Apr, 11:30 (sc 3)
  • 15 Apr, 11:30 (sc 4)

    The no data-taking periods around the eclipse on 15 April will be extended back in time to encompass these manoeuvres, i.e. from 10:30 to 10:00 on C1 and C3 and from 12:56 to 10:00 on C2 and C4. This is only a small loss, so no additional BM1 has been added.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Spring eclipses 2010

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses between 15 January and 22 June 2010. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below.

    Notes

    1. To reduce operational workload during the eclipse season, a number of instruments will remain switched on (but not collecting science data) during eclipses as follows:

  • EDI on spacecraft 4
  • FGM on spacecraft 2 and 4
  • RAPID on spacecraft 2 and 4
    These are cases where there is sufficient battery capacity to avoid switch-off and where remaining on avoids problems such as loss of software patches and calibration issues.

    2. Due to power constraints the SSRs will be emptied before each eclipse. Thus no burst mode adjustment will be made to balance the no-data-taking periods (as was the practice in earlier eclipse seasons). Given the absence of burst mode balancing, the payload off periods have not been consolidated to focus on multi-spacecraft operations (as was also done in previous seasons). The payload off periods are restricted to those requested by ESOC.

    3. These payload-off periods are not are displayed on the Bryant plots as the plotting software does not have the capability to handle individual payload-off periods for each spacecraft.

    4. The spacecraft 3 payload-off period on 19 January nominally runs from 13:30 to 19:00 (ESOC request). It has been extended here to match the safety periods around the trim manoeuvre which occurs at the same time (see above).

    5. The spacecraft payload-off periods on 08 April nominally start at 14:30 (C1 and C3) and 18:07 (C2 and C4) (ESOC request). These have been extended earlier to 06:30 (C3) and 07:30 (C1, C2 and C4) to provide safety periods around the attitude manoeuvres which occur just before the eclipses (see below).

    6. The spacecraft payload-off periods on 15 April nominally start at 10:30 (C1 and C3) and 12:56 (C2 and C4) (ESOC request). These have been extended earlier to 10:00 to provide safety periods around the trim manoeuvres which occur just before the eclipses (see below).

    7. The spacecraft 4 payload-off period on 17 April nominally runs from 19:11 to 20:05 (original ESOC request). It has been extended to run from 18:00 to 03:00 next day at the further request of ESOC (to reflect updated power constraints). EDI, FGM and RAPID on C4 will be switched off during this period.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Notes
    3 15/01/2010 02:14 15/01/2010 02:37
    3 17/01/2010 07:00 17/01/2010 13:00
    3 19/01/2010 12:31 19/01/2010 21:31 4
    3 21/01/2010 18:00 22/01/2010 00:00
    3 24/01/2010 02:30 24/01/2010 09:00
    3 26/01/2010 08:00 26/01/2010 14:00
    3 28/01/2010 14:00 28/01/2010 20:00
    3 30/01/2010 20:30 31/01/2010 02:00
    3 02/02/2010 03:30 02/02/2010 09:30
    1 02/02/2010 04:20 02/02/2010 04:44
    1 04/02/2010 08:00 04/02/2010 16:30
    3 04/02/2010 08:00 04/02/2010 16:30
    2 04/02/2010 10:32 04/02/2010 11:05
    4 04/02/2010 10:32 04/02/2010 11:05
    1 06/02/2010 14:00 06/02/2010 21:00
    3 06/02/2010 14:00 06/02/2010 21:00
    2 06/02/2010 16:48 06/02/2010 17:22
    4 06/02/2010 16:48 06/02/2010 17:22
    1 08/02/2010 22:30 09/02/2010 06:30
    3 08/02/2010 22:30 09/02/2010 06:30
    2 08/02/2010 23:03 08/02/2010 23:38
    4 08/02/2010 23:03 08/02/2010 23:38
    1 11/02/2010 04:00 11/02/2010 11:00
    3 11/02/2010 04:00 11/02/2010 11:00
    2 11/02/2010 05:19 11/02/2010 05:54
    4 11/02/2010 05:19 11/02/2010 05:54
    1 13/02/2010 09:00 13/02/2010 16:30
    3 13/02/2010 09:00 13/02/2010 16:30
    2 13/02/2010 11:35 13/02/2010 12:11
    4 13/02/2010 11:35 13/02/2010 12:11
    1 15/02/2010 15:00 15/02/2010 22:00
    3 15/02/2010 15:00 15/02/2010 22:00
    2 15/02/2010 17:52 15/02/2010 18:29
    4 15/02/2010 17:52 15/02/2010 18:29
    1 17/02/2010 23:00 18/02/2010 07:30
    3 17/02/2010 23:00 18/02/2010 07:30
    2 18/02/2010 00:09 18/02/2010 00:47
    4 18/02/2010 00:09 18/02/2010 00:47
    1 20/02/2010 05:00 20/02/2010 14:00
    3 20/02/2010 05:00 20/02/2010 14:00
    2 20/02/2010 06:26 20/02/2010 07:04
    4 20/02/2010 06:26 20/02/2010 07:04
    1 22/02/2010 08:45 22/02/2010 17:15
    3 22/02/2010 08:45 22/02/2010 17:15
    2 22/02/2010 12:41 22/02/2010 13:20
    4 22/02/2010 12:41 22/02/2010 13:20
    1 24/02/2010 15:30 24/02/2010 22:30
    3 24/02/2010 15:30 24/02/2010 22:30
    2 24/02/2010 18:57 24/02/2010 19:36
    4 24/02/2010 18:57 24/02/2010 19:36
    1 27/02/2010 00:45 27/02/2010 09:15
    3 27/02/2010 00:45 27/02/2010 09:15
    2 27/02/2010 01:13 27/02/2010 01:53
    4 27/02/2010 01:13 27/02/2010 01:53
    1 01/03/2010 06:00 01/03/2010 14:00
    3 01/03/2010 06:00 01/03/2010 14:00
    2 01/03/2010 07:31 01/03/2010 08:12
    4 01/03/2010 07:31 01/03/2010 08:12
    1 03/03/2010 12:00 03/03/2010 19:00
    3 03/03/2010 12:00 03/03/2010 19:00
    2 03/03/2010 13:48 03/03/2010 14:30
    4 03/03/2010 13:48 03/03/2010 14:30
    1 05/03/2010 17:00 06/03/2010 00:00
    3 05/03/2010 17:00 06/03/2010 00:00
    2 05/03/2010 20:05 05/03/2010 20:47
    4 05/03/2010 20:05 05/03/2010 20:47
    1 08/03/2010 01:00 08/03/2010 08:30
    3 08/03/2010 01:00 08/03/2010 08:30
    2 08/03/2010 02:20 08/03/2010 03:03
    4 08/03/2010 02:20 08/03/2010 03:03
    1 10/03/2010 07:00 10/03/2010 14:00
    3 10/03/2010 07:00 10/03/2010 14:00
    2 10/03/2010 08:36 10/03/2010 09:19
    4 10/03/2010 08:36 10/03/2010 09:19
    1 12/03/2010 12:30 12/03/2010 19:30
    3 12/03/2010 12:30 12/03/2010 19:30
    2 12/03/2010 14:52 12/03/2010 15:36
    4 12/03/2010 14:52 12/03/2010 15:36
    1 14/03/2010 20:30 15/03/2010 03:30
    3 14/03/2010 20:30 15/03/2010 03:30
    2 14/03/2010 21:09 14/03/2010 21:54
    4 14/03/2010 21:09 14/03/2010 21:54
    1 17/03/2010 01:30 17/03/2010 08:30
    3 17/03/2010 01:30 17/03/2010 08:30
    2 17/03/2010 03:26 17/03/2010 04:12
    4 17/03/2010 03:26 17/03/2010 04:12
    1 19/03/2010 07:00 19/03/2010 14:30
    3 19/03/2010 07:00 19/03/2010 14:30
    2 19/03/2010 09:42 19/03/2010 10:29
    4 19/03/2010 09:42 19/03/2010 10:29
    1 21/03/2010 13:00 21/03/2010 20:30
    3 21/03/2010 13:00 21/03/2010 20:30
    2 21/03/2010 15:58 21/03/2010 16:45
    4 21/03/2010 15:58 21/03/2010 16:45
    1 23/03/2010 21:15 24/03/2010 06:30
    3 23/03/2010 21:15 24/03/2010 06:30
    2 23/03/2010 22:13 23/03/2010 23:01
    4 23/03/2010 22:13 23/03/2010 23:01
    1 26/03/2010 03:00 26/03/2010 12:00
    3 26/03/2010 03:00 26/03/2010 12:00
    2 26/03/2010 04:30 26/03/2010 05:13
    4 26/03/2010 04:30 26/03/2010 05:13
    1 28/03/2010 09:00 28/03/2010 16:00
    3 28/03/2010 09:00 28/03/2010 16:00
    2 28/03/2010 10:47 28/03/2010 11:36
    4 28/03/2010 10:47 28/03/2010 11:36
    1 30/03/2010 13:00 30/03/2010 20:30
    3 30/03/2010 13:00 30/03/2010 20:30
    2 30/03/2010 17:04 30/03/2010 17:53
    4 30/03/2010 17:04 30/03/2010 17:53
    1 01/04/2010 22:00 02/04/2010 05:30
    3 01/04/2010 22:00 02/04/2010 05:30
    2 01/04/2010 23:21 02/04/2010 00:10
    4 01/04/2010 23:21 02/04/2010 00:10
    1 04/04/2010 04:00 04/04/2010 12:00
    3 04/04/2010 04:00 04/04/2010 12:00
    2 04/04/2010 05:36 04/04/2010 06:26
    4 04/04/2010 05:36 04/04/2010 06:26
    1 06/04/2010 07:30 06/04/2010 16:00
    3 06/04/2010 07:30 06/04/2010 16:00
    2 06/04/2010 11:51 06/04/2010 12:42
    4 06/04/2010 11:51 06/04/2010 12:42
    1 08/04/2010 07:30 08/04/2010 22:00 5
    3 08/04/2010 06:30 08/04/2010 22:00 5
    2 08/04/2010 07:30 08/04/2010 18:58 5
    4 08/04/2010 07:30 08/04/2010 18:58 5
    1 10/04/2010 23:00 11/04/2010 07:30
    3 10/04/2010 23:00 11/04/2010 07:30
    2 11/04/2010 00:23 11/04/2010 01:16
    4 11/04/2010 00:23 11/04/2010 01:16
    1 13/04/2010 05:00 13/04/2010 12:30
    3 13/04/2010 05:00 13/04/2010 12:30
    2 13/04/2010 06:40 13/04/2010 07:33
    4 13/04/2010 06:40 13/04/2010 07:33
    1 15/04/2010 10:00 15/04/2010 17:30 6
    3 15/04/2010 10:00 15/04/2010 17:30 6
    2 15/04/2010 10:00 15/04/2010 13:50 6
    4 15/04/2010 10:00 15/04/2010 13:50 6
    1 17/04/2010 18:00 18/04/2010 03:00
    3 17/04/2010 18:00 18/04/2010 03:00
    2 17/04/2010 19:11 17/04/2010 20:05
    4 17/04/2010 18:00 18/04/2010 03:00 7
    1 19/04/2010 23:30 20/04/2010 06:30
    3 19/04/2010 23:30 20/04/2010 06:30
    2 20/04/2010 01:26 20/04/2010 02:21
    4 20/04/2010 01:26 20/04/2010 02:21
    1 22/04/2010 05:00 22/04/2010 12:30
    3 22/04/2010 05:00 22/04/2010 12:30
    2 22/04/2010 07:41 22/04/2010 08:37
    4 22/04/2010 07:41 22/04/2010 08:37
    1 24/04/2010 11:00 24/04/2010 18:00
    3 24/04/2010 11:00 24/04/2010 18:00
    2 24/04/2010 13:58 24/04/2010 14:54
    4 24/04/2010 13:58 24/04/2010 14:47
    1 26/04/2010 19:30 27/04/2010 04:30
    3 26/04/2010 19:30 27/04/2010 04:30
    2 26/04/2010 20:14 26/04/2010 21:12
    4 26/04/2010 20:14 26/04/2010 21:12
    1 29/04/2010 00:30 29/04/2010 09:30
    3 29/04/2010 00:30 29/04/2010 09:30
    2 29/04/2010 02:30 29/04/2010 03:28
    4 29/04/2010 02:30 29/04/2010 03:28
    1 01/05/2010 07:00 01/05/2010 14:00
    2 01/05/2010 08:55 01/05/2010 09:44
    3 01/05/2010 07:00 01/05/2010 14:00
    4 01/05/2010 07:00 01/05/2010 14:00
    1 03/05/2010 12:00 03/05/2010 20:00
    3 03/05/2010 12:00 03/05/2010 20:00
    4 03/05/2010 12:00 03/05/2010 20:00
    2 03/05/2010 15:10 03/05/2010 15:59
    1 05/05/2010 20:00 06/05/2010 04:30
    3 05/05/2010 20:00 06/05/2010 04:30
    4 05/05/2010 20:00 06/05/2010 04:30
    2 05/05/2010 21:25 05/05/2010 22:14
    1 08/05/2010 01:30 08/05/2010 09:30
    3 08/05/2010 01:30 08/05/2010 09:30
    4 08/05/2010 01:30 08/05/2010 09:30
    2 08/05/2010 03:41 08/05/2010 04:31
    1 10/05/2010 05:00 10/05/2010 15:00
    3 10/05/2010 05:00 10/05/2010 15:00
    4 10/05/2010 05:00 10/05/2010 15:00
    2 10/05/2010 09:58 10/05/2010 10:48
    1 12/05/2010 11:30 12/05/2010 20:00
    3 12/05/2010 11:30 12/05/2010 20:00
    4 12/05/2010 11:30 12/05/2010 20:00
    2 12/05/2010 16:14 12/05/2010 17:04
    1 14/05/2010 11:00 15/05/2010 04:00
    3 14/05/2010 11:00 15/05/2010 04:00
    4 14/05/2010 11:00 15/05/2010 04:00
    2 14/05/2010 22:29 14/05/2010 23:19
    1 17/05/2010 02:30 17/05/2010 10:30
    3 17/05/2010 02:30 17/05/2010 10:30
    4 17/05/2010 02:30 17/05/2010 10:30
    2 17/05/2010 04:44 17/05/2010 05:33
    1 19/05/2010 06:00 19/05/2010 16:00
    3 19/05/2010 06:00 19/05/2010 16:00
    4 19/05/2010 06:00 19/05/2010 16:00
    2 19/05/2010 11:00 19/05/2010 11:49
    1 21/05/2010 16:00 22/05/2010 01:00
    3 21/05/2010 16:00 22/05/2010 01:00
    4 21/05/2010 16:00 22/05/2010 01:00
    2 21/05/2010 17:17 21/05/2010 18:05
    1 23/05/2010 21:30 24/05/2010 05:00
    3 23/05/2010 21:30 24/05/2010 05:00
    4 23/05/2010 21:30 24/05/2010 05:00
    2 23/05/2010 23:34 24/05/2010 00:22
    1 26/05/2010 02:30 26/05/2010 10:30
    3 26/05/2010 02:30 26/05/2010 10:30
    4 26/05/2010 02:30 26/05/2010 10:30
    2 26/05/2010 05:50 26/05/2010 06:37
    1 28/05/2010 06:00 28/05/2010 16:00
    3 28/05/2010 06:00 28/05/2010 16:00
    4 28/05/2010 06:00 28/05/2010 16:00
    2 28/05/2010 12:06 28/05/2010 12:52
    1 30/05/2010 09:00 31/05/2010 03:00
    3 30/05/2010 09:00 31/05/2010 03:00
    4 30/05/2010 09:00 31/05/2010 03:00
    2 30/05/2010 18:21 30/05/2010 19:06
    1 01/06/2010 22:00 02/06/2010 07:00
    3 01/06/2010 22:00 02/06/2010 07:00
    4 01/06/2010 22:00 02/06/2010 07:00
    2 02/06/2010 00:37 02/06/2010 01:20
    1 04/06/2010 03:00 04/06/2010 12:00
    3 04/06/2010 03:00 04/06/2010 12:00
    4 04/06/2010 03:00 04/06/2010 12:00
    2 04/06/2010 06:54 04/06/2010 07:35
    1 06/06/2010 07:30 06/06/2010 20:30
    3 06/06/2010 07:30 06/06/2010 20:30
    4 06/06/2010 07:30 06/06/2010 20:30
    2 06/06/2010 13:12 06/06/2010 13:51
    1 08/06/2010 17:00 09/06/2010 02:00
    3 08/06/2010 17:00 09/06/2010 02:00
    4 08/06/2010 17:00 09/06/2010 02:00
    2 08/06/2010 19:30 08/06/2010 20:05
    1 10/06/2010 23:30 11/06/2010 07:30
    3 10/06/2010 23:30 11/06/2010 07:30
    4 10/06/2010 23:30 11/06/2010 07:30
    2 11/06/2010 01:48 11/06/2010 02:17
    1 13/06/2010 06:00 13/06/2010 13:00
    3 13/06/2010 06:00 13/06/2010 13:00
    4 13/06/2010 06:00 13/06/2010 13:00
    1 15/06/2010 09:30 15/06/2010 17:30
    3 15/06/2010 09:30 15/06/2010 17:30
    4 15/06/2010 09:30 15/06/2010 17:30
    1 17/06/2010 19:00 18/06/2010 03:00
    3 17/06/2010 19:00 18/06/2010 03:00
    4 17/06/2010 19:00 18/06/2010 03:00
    1 20/06/2010 01:00 20/06/2010 08:00
    3 20/06/2010 01:00 20/06/2010 08:00
    4 20/06/2010 02:26 20/06/2010 03:06
    3 22/06/2010 05:00 22/06/2010 12:00
    4 22/06/2010 08:48 22/06/2010 09:08

    Orbit manoeuvre, June 2010

    On 1 June 2010, there will be a manoeuvre to adjust the drift of Cluster 3. The manoeuvre time is shown below.

  • 01 Jun, 23:00 (sc 3)

    This manoeuvre falls in the payload off period around an eclipse on Cluster 3. Payload off runs from 22:00 on 1 June to 07:00 on 2 June. No further reduction in data-taking is needed.

    As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Attitude manoeuvres, July 2010

    In July 2010, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 14 Jul, 16:30 (sc 3)
  • 14 Jul, 17:00 (sc 2)
  • 14 Jul, 17:30 (sc 1)
  • 14 Jul, 18:00 (sc 4)

    The no data-taking periods around these manoeuvres from 16:00 to 20:09. This gap is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns. The early start of data-taking supports a pre-planned WBD operation.

    There will be no trim manoeuvres as orbit manoeuvres follow soon after these attitude manoeuvres.

    Orbit phasing manoeuvres, July/September 2010

    A series of manoeuvres of the Cluster spacecraft will take place during July, August and September 2010. These will adjust the spacecraft separation to address forthcoming science targets.

    The manoeuvre times are shown below. As many instruments have to be switched into safe modes during manoeuvre periods, there will be no data-taking for several hours around each manoeuvre, typically from one hour before the manoeuvre to 7 hours after the manoeuvre. The no-data-taking period will sometimes end earlier in order to preserve WBD operations already scheduled. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre period.

    Manoeuvre 1

  • 20 Jul, 20:20 to 20:29 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on spacecraft 2 from 19:50 to 03:29. This is not balanced by additional BM1 as it applies on only one spacecraft. Spacecraft 1, 3 and 4 continue data taking in line with the Master Science Plan.

    Manoeuvre 2

  • 21 Jul, 19:11 (sc 4)
  • 21 Jul, 19:23 (sc 1)
  • 21 Jul, 19:23 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 18:30 to 19:54. This gap is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 3

  • 30 Jul, 20:16 (sc 4)
  • 30 Jul, 20:35-20:38 (sc 2)
  • 30 Jul, 20:37 (sc 1)
  • 30 Jul, 20:40 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 19:30 to 03:40. This gap is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 4

  • 05 Aug, 15:55 to 16:25 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on spacecraft 2 from 15:25 to 23:25. This is not balanced by additional BM1 as it applies on only one spacecraft. Spacecraft 1, 3 and 4 continue data taking in line with the Master Science Plan.

    Manoeuvre 5

  • 12 Aug, 10:55 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on spacecraft 2 from 10:25 to 17:56. This is not balanced by additional BM1 as it applies on only one spacecraft. Spacecraft 1, 3 and 4 continue data taking in line with the Master Science Plan.

    Manoeuvre 6

  • 20 Aug, 04:41 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on spacecraft 2 from 04:11 to 11:42. This is not balanced by additional BM1 as it applies on only one spacecraft. Spacecraft 1, 3 and 4 continue data taking in line with the Master Science Plan.

    Manoeuvre 7

  • 02 Sep, 18:21 (sc 2)
  • 02 Sep, 19:01 (sc 1)
  • 02 Sep, 19:19 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 17:21 to 02:20. This gap is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Manoeuvre 8

  • 07 Sep, 06:55 (sc 2)
  • 07 Sep, 07:36 (sc 1)
  • 07 Sep, 07:54 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 05:55 to 09:03. This gap is balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above.

    Attitude manoeuvres, October 2010

    In October 2010, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 14 Oct, 11:00 (sc 1)
  • 14 Oct, 11:30 (sc 4)
  • 14 Oct, 12:00 (sc 3)
  • 14 Oct, 12:30 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 10:00 to 19:30.

    These will be followed by trim manoeuvres as follows.

  • 22 Oct, 12:27 (sc 2)
  • 22 Oct, 12:40 (sc 4)
  • 22 Oct, 13:21 (sc 1)
  • 22 Oct, 13:41 (sc 3)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 11:27 to 16:30.

    These no data-taking periods are balanced by additional BM1 as shown in the Master Science Plan above. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns. The early start of data-taking after the trim manoeuvres supports a pre-planned WBD operation.

    Orbit trim manoeuvres, December 2010

    In December 2010, there will be manoeuvres on spacecraft 1, 3 and 4 to correct for the orbit drift caused by thruster gas releases arising from the spacecraft power down at eclipses. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 13 Dec, 11:00 (sc 1)
  • 13 Dec, 12:00 (sc 4)
  • 13 Dec, 13:00 (sc 3)

    There will be no changes to data-taking periods as these manoeuvres fall in the payload-off periods around eclipses. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.

    Attitude manoeuvres, January 2011

    In January 2011, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 19 Jan, 16:30 (sc 4)
  • 19 Jan, 17:00 (sc 3)
  • 19 Jan, 18:00 (sc 1)
  • 19 Jan, 18:45 (sc 2)

    No data-taking on all four spacecraft from 15:30 to 01:46, which spans apogee. This no-data-taking will be balanced by extending the BM1 period that has been scheduled during the outbound crossing of the magnetosheath on the same orbit. See the MSP details for orbit 1632.

    These will be followed by trim manoeuvres as follows.

  • 25 Jan, 10:30 (sc 2)
  • 25 Jan, 11:20 (sc 4)
  • 25 Jan, 11:45 (sc 1)
  • 25 Jan, 12:25 (sc 3)

    There will no changes to data-taking periods on C1, C3 and C4 as these manoeuvres fall well inside the eclipse payload-off periods for these spacecraft. For C2, the manoeuvre falls 38 minutes before the nominal start of the eclipse payload-off period; so that period has been extended to run from 09:30 to 16:30 to provide manoeuvre protection (see above).

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.

    Long eclipses 2010-2011

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses between 22 October 2010 and 23 July 2011. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below. The present table covers the full eclipse season from 22 October 2010 to 23 July 2011.

    Notes

    1. Due to power constraints the SSRs will be emptied before each eclipse. Thus no burst mode adjustment will be made to balance the no-data-taking periods (as was the practice in earlier eclipse seasons). Given the absence of burst mode balancing, the payload off periods have not been consolidated to focus on multi-spacecraft operations (as was also done in previous seasons). The payload off periods are restricted to those requested by ESOC.

    2. These payload-off periods are not are displayed on the Bryant plots as the plotting software does not have the capability to handle individual payload-off periods for each spacecraft.

    3. The first payload-off period (spacecraft 2 on 22 October) has been integrated into the no-data-taking period for trim manoeuvres as specified above.

    4. EDI on spacecraft 2 will be switched off continuously from 12:00 on 22 October to 21:30 on 6 December 2010 because of the difficulty of restoring patches after power-down.

    5. RAPID and EDI on spacecraft 2 will remain in standby mode during eclipses from 8 December 2010. At this time there will sufficient power to maintain standby and thus preserve patches on this instruments.

    6. Payload off periods on spacecraft 3 and 4 on 20 December 2010 were extended by 2h10m compared to original planning released in Sep 2010.

    7. Orbit trim manoeuvres will take place during these payload-off periods, see below.

    8. The payload off period on C2 on 25 January has been extended to run from 09:30 to 16:30 to provide manoeuvre protection. The original off period was 11:08 to 11:49.

    9. The C1, C3 and C4 payload off periods on 18/19 April will now start 4.5 hours earlier than originally planned. This releases data downlink capacity that ESOC need to downlink the BM1 period at the tetrahedron quality parameter maximum just before the inbound bow shock.

    10. The C1, C3 and C4 payload off periods on 29 March will now start later than originally planned. This gives more scope for Guest Investigator observations agreed by SOWG.

    11. The C1 and C3 payload off periods on 3 April will now start later than originally planned. This gives more scope for Guest Investigator observations agreed by SOWG.

    12. The payoff periods on 21 April will start about one hour earlier than originally planned on all 4 spacecraft - to provide manoeuvre protection.

    13. The C2 payoff period on 25 May will start 30 mins earlier than originally planned - to provide manoeuvre protection.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Notes
    2 22/10/2010 12:00 22/10/2010 16:30 3
    2 24/10/2010 17:30 24/10/2010 23:00
    2 27/10/2010 00:00 27/10/2010 05:15
    2 29/10/2010 04:00 29/10/2010 12:30
    2 31/10/2010 12:00 31/10/2010 17:30
    2 02/11/2010 15:30 03/11/2010 00:00
    2 05/11/2010 01:00 05/11/2010 06:00
    2 07/11/2010 07:00 07/11/2010 13:00
    4 07/11/2010 08:00 07/11/2010 14:00
    3 07/11/2010 09:00 07/11/2010 15:00
    2 09/11/2010 12:00 09/11/2010 18:30
    3 09/11/2010 13:00 09/11/2010 21:30
    4 09/11/2010 14:00 09/11/2010 20:30
    1 09/11/2010 15:00 09/11/2010 20:30
    4 11/11/2010 16:30 12/11/2010 02:00
    2 11/11/2010 17:30 12/11/2010 01:00
    1 11/11/2010 18:30 12/11/2010 03:00
    3 11/11/2010 19:30 12/11/2010 04:00
    2 13/11/2010 22:00 14/11/2010 07:00
    4 13/11/2010 23:00 14/11/2010 11:00
    1 14/11/2010 00:00 14/11/2010 08:00
    3 14/11/2010 01:00 14/11/2010 12:00
    2 16/11/2010 05:00 16/11/2010 14:00
    4 16/11/2010 06:00 16/11/2010 15:00
    1 16/11/2010 07:00 16/11/2010 16:00
    3 16/11/2010 08:00 16/11/2010 17:00
    2 18/11/2010 07:00 18/11/2010 20:00
    1 18/11/2010 09:00 18/11/2010 22:00
    4 18/11/2010 11:00 18/11/2010 21:00
    3 18/11/2010 13:00 18/11/2010 23:00
    2 20/11/2010 18:00 21/11/2010 01:00
    4 20/11/2010 19:00 21/11/2010 02:00
    1 20/11/2010 20:00 21/11/2010 03:00
    3 20/11/2010 21:00 21/11/2010 04:00
    2 23/11/2010 01:30 23/11/2010 10:30
    4 23/11/2010 02:30 23/11/2010 11:30
    1 23/11/2010 03:30 23/11/2010 12:30
    3 23/11/2010 04:30 23/11/2010 13:30
    2 25/11/2010 07:00 25/11/2010 15:00
    4 25/11/2010 08:00 25/11/2010 16:00
    1 25/11/2010 09:00 25/11/2010 17:00
    3 25/11/2010 10:00 25/11/2010 18:00
    2 27/11/2010 13:00 27/11/2010 21:00
    4 27/11/2010 14:00 27/11/2010 22:00
    1 27/11/2010 15:00 27/11/2010 23:00
    3 27/11/2010 16:00 28/11/2010 00:00
    2 29/11/2010 17:00 30/11/2010 02:30
    4 29/11/2010 18:00 30/11/2010 03:30
    1 29/11/2010 19:00 30/11/2010 04:30
    3 29/11/2010 20:00 30/11/2010 05:30
    2 02/12/2010 02:30 02/12/2010 10:30
    4 02/12/2010 03:30 02/12/2010 11:30
    1 02/12/2010 04:30 02/12/2010 12:30
    3 02/12/2010 05:30 02/12/2010 13:30
    2 04/12/2010 08:00 04/12/2010 15:00
    4 04/12/2010 09:00 04/12/2010 16:00
    1 04/12/2010 10:00 04/12/2010 17:00
    3 04/12/2010 11:00 04/12/2010 18:00
    2 06/12/2010 13:30 06/12/2010 21:30
    4 06/12/2010 14:30 06/12/2010 22:30
    1 06/12/2010 15:30 06/12/2010 23:30
    3 06/12/2010 16:30 07/12/2010 00:30
    4 08/12/2010 20:30 09/12/2010 07:30
    1 08/12/2010 21:30 09/12/2010 08:30
    3 08/12/2010 22:30 09/12/2010 09:30
    2 08/12/2010 23:52 09/12/2010 00:51
    4 11/12/2010 04:30 11/12/2010 11:30
    1 11/12/2010 05:30 11/12/2010 12:30
    2 11/12/2010 06:07 11/12/2010 07:04
    3 11/12/2010 06:30 11/12/2010 13:30
    4 13/12/2010 10:00 13/12/2010 17:00 7
    1 13/12/2010 11:00 13/12/2010 18:00 7
    3 13/12/2010 12:00 13/12/2010 19:00 7
    2 13/12/2010 12:22 13/12/2010 13:18
    4 15/12/2010 15:30 15/12/2010 22:30
    1 15/12/2010 16:30 15/12/2010 23:30
    3 15/12/2010 17:30 16/12/2010 00:30
    2 15/12/2010 18:37 15/12/2010 19:31
    4 17/12/2010 18:00 18/12/2010 04:00
    1 17/12/2010 19:00 18/12/2010 05:00
    3 17/12/2010 20:00 18/12/2010 09:00
    2 18/12/2010 00:51 18/12/2010 01:44
    4 20/12/2010 06:00 20/12/2010 13:40 6
    1 20/12/2010 07:00 20/12/2010 12:30
    2 20/12/2010 07:05 20/12/2010 07:57
    3 20/12/2010 08:00 20/12/2010 15:40 6
    4 22/12/2010 12:00 22/12/2010 19:00
    1 22/12/2010 13:00 22/12/2010 20:00
    2 22/12/2010 13:19 22/12/2010 14:10
    3 22/12/2010 14:00 22/12/2010 21:00
    4 24/12/2010 17:30 24/12/2010 23:30
    1 24/12/2010 18:30 25/12/2010 00:30
    3 24/12/2010 19:30 25/12/2010 01:30
    2 24/12/2010 19:34 24/12/2010 20:24
    4 27/12/2010 01:00 27/12/2010 09:00
    2 27/12/2010 01:50 27/12/2010 02:39
    1 27/12/2010 02:00 27/12/2010 10:00
    3 27/12/2010 03:00 27/12/2010 11:00
    4 29/12/2010 06:45 29/12/2010 12:15
    1 29/12/2010 07:45 29/12/2010 13:15
    2 29/12/2010 08:06 29/12/2010 08:54
    3 29/12/2010 08:45 29/12/2010 14:15
    4 31/12/2010 12:30 31/12/2010 18:30
    1 31/12/2010 13:30 31/12/2010 19:30
    2 31/12/2010 14:21 31/12/2010 15:08
    4 02/01/2011 15:30 03/01/2011 00:30
    1 02/01/2011 16:30 03/01/2011 01:30
    3 02/01/2011 17:30 03/01/2011 02:30
    2 02/01/2011 20:35 02/01/2011 21:21
    4 04/01/2011 18:30 05/01/2011 10:00
    1 04/01/2011 19:30 05/01/2011 17:00
    3 05/01/2011 00:00 05/01/2011 17:30
    2 05/01/2011 02:49 05/01/2011 03:35
    4 07/01/2011 00:00 07/01/2011 16:00
    1 07/01/2011 03:00 07/01/2011 17:00
    3 07/01/2011 09:00 07/01/2011 18:00
    2 07/01/2011 09:04 07/01/2011 09:49
    4 09/01/2011 12:00 09/01/2011 20:00
    1 09/01/2011 13:00 09/01/2011 21:00
    3 09/01/2011 14:00 09/01/2011 22:00
    2 09/01/2011 15:20 09/01/2011 16:04
    4 11/01/2011 16:00 12/01/2011 01:00
    1 11/01/2011 17:00 12/01/2011 02:00
    3 11/01/2011 18:00 12/01/2011 07:00
    2 11/01/2011 21:36 11/01/2011 22:20
    4 14/01/2011 03:00 14/01/2011 10:00
    2 14/01/2011 03:51 14/01/2011 04:34
    1 14/01/2011 04:00 14/01/2011 11:00
    3 14/01/2011 05:00 14/01/2011 12:00
    4 16/01/2011 09:00 16/01/2011 15:00
    3 16/01/2011 10:00 16/01/2011 17:00
    2 16/01/2011 10:05 16/01/2011 10:48
    1 16/01/2011 11:00 16/01/2011 16:00
    4 18/01/2011 12:30 18/01/2011 20:00
    1 18/01/2011 13:30 18/01/2011 21:00
    3 18/01/2011 14:30 18/01/2011 22:00
    2 18/01/2011 16:20 18/01/2011 17:02
    4 20/01/2011 19:00 21/01/2011 03:00
    1 20/01/2011 20:00 21/01/2011 04:00
    3 20/01/2011 21:00 21/01/2011 04:00
    2 20/01/2011 22:35 20/01/2011 23:17
    4 23/01/2011 03:00 23/01/2011 11:00
    1 23/01/2011 04:00 23/01/2011 12:00
    2 23/01/2011 04:52 23/01/2011 05:33
    3 23/01/2011 05:00 23/01/2011 13:00
    4 25/01/2011 09:00 25/01/2011 17:00
    1 25/01/2011 10:00 25/01/2011 18:00
    3 25/01/2011 11:00 25/01/2011 19:00
    2 25/01/2011 11:08 25/01/2011 11:49 8
    4 27/01/2011 14:30 27/01/2011 22:00
    1 27/01/2011 15:30 27/01/2011 23:00
    3 27/01/2011 16:30 28/01/2011 00:00
    2 27/01/2011 17:24 27/01/2011 18:05
    4 29/01/2011 22:30 30/01/2011 07:00
    1 29/01/2011 23:30 30/01/2011 08:00
    2 29/01/2011 23:39 30/01/2011 00:19
    3 30/01/2011 00:30 30/01/2011 09:00
    4 01/02/2011 04:30 01/02/2011 11:00
    1 01/02/2011 05:30 01/02/2011 12:00
    2 01/02/2011 05:54 01/02/2011 06:34
    3 01/02/2011 06:30 01/02/2011 13:00
    4 03/02/2011 10:00 03/02/2011 16:30
    1 03/02/2011 11:00 03/02/2011 17:30
    3 03/02/2011 12:00 03/02/2011 18:30
    2 03/02/2011 12:09 03/02/2011 12:49
    4 05/02/2011 13:30 05/02/2011 22:00
    1 05/02/2011 14:30 05/02/2011 23:30
    3 05/02/2011 15:30 05/02/2011 23:30
    2 05/02/2011 18:25 05/02/2011 19:05
    4 07/02/2011 22:00 08/02/2011 06:30
    1 07/02/2011 23:00 08/02/2011 07:30
    3 08/02/2011 00:00 08/02/2011 08:00
    2 08/02/2011 00:42 08/02/2011 01:21
    4 10/02/2011 06:00 10/02/2011 12:00
    2 10/02/2011 06:57 10/02/2011 07:37
    1 10/02/2011 07:00 10/02/2011 13:00
    3 10/02/2011 07:30 10/02/2011 14:00
    4 12/02/2011 12:00 12/02/2011 18:00
    1 12/02/2011 13:00 12/02/2011 19:00
    2 12/02/2011 13:12 12/02/2011 13:51
    3 12/02/2011 14:00 12/02/2011 20:00
    4 14/02/2011 14:30 14/02/2011 22:30
    1 14/02/2011 15:30 14/02/2011 23:30
    3 14/02/2011 18:30 15/02/2011 04:30
    2 14/02/2011 19:27 14/02/2011 20:06
    4 17/02/2011 01:00 17/02/2011 08:00
    2 17/02/2011 01:43 17/02/2011 02:22
    1 17/02/2011 02:00 17/02/2011 09:00
    3 17/02/2011 03:00 17/02/2011 10:00
    4 19/02/2011 07:00 19/02/2011 13:00
    1 19/02/2011 08:00 19/02/2011 14:00
    2 19/02/2011 08:00 19/02/2011 08:39
    3 19/02/2011 09:00 19/02/2011 15:00
    4 21/02/2011 11:30 21/02/2011 18:30
    1 21/02/2011 12:30 21/02/2011 19:30
    3 21/02/2011 13:30 21/02/2011 20:30
    2 21/02/2011 14:17 21/02/2011 14:56
    4 23/02/2011 16:00 24/02/2011 01:00
    1 23/02/2011 17:00 24/02/2011 01:30
    3 23/02/2011 18:00 24/02/2011 01:30
    2 23/02/2011 20:33 23/02/2011 21:12
    4 26/02/2011 01:00 26/02/2011 08:00
    1 26/02/2011 02:00 26/02/2011 09:00
    2 26/02/2011 02:49 26/02/2011 03:27
    3 26/02/2011 03:00 26/02/2011 10:00
    4 28/02/2011 04:00 28/02/2011 15:00
    1 28/02/2011 05:00 28/02/2011 16:00
    3 28/02/2011 06:00 28/02/2011 17:00
    2 28/02/2011 09:04 28/02/2011 09:42
    4 02/03/2011 12:30 02/03/2011 20:00
    1 02/03/2011 13:30 02/03/2011 21:30
    3 02/03/2011 14:00 02/03/2011 21:30
    2 02/03/2011 15:19 02/03/2011 15:58
    4 04/03/2011 20:30 05/03/2011 05:00
    1 04/03/2011 21:30 05/03/2011 06:00
    2 04/03/2011 21:36 04/03/2011 22:14
    3 04/03/2011 22:30 05/03/2011 07:00
    4 07/03/2011 02:00 07/03/2011 09:00
    1 07/03/2011 03:00 07/03/2011 10:00
    2 07/03/2011 03:52 07/03/2011 04:31
    3 07/03/2011 04:00 07/03/2011 11:00
    4 09/03/2011 08:00 09/03/2011 15:00
    1 09/03/2011 09:00 09/03/2011 16:00
    3 09/03/2011 10:00 09/03/2011 17:00
    2 09/03/2011 10:08 09/03/2011 10:47
    4 11/03/2011 11:00 11/03/2011 20:00
    1 11/03/2011 12:00 11/03/2011 21:00
    3 11/03/2011 13:00 11/03/2011 22:00
    2 11/03/2011 16:23 11/03/2011 17:02
    4 13/03/2011 21:00 14/03/2011 05:30
    1 13/03/2011 22:00 14/03/2011 06:30
    2 13/03/2011 22:38 13/03/2011 23:17
    3 13/03/2011 23:00 14/03/2011 07:30
    4 16/03/2011 03:30 16/03/2011 10:00
    1 16/03/2011 04:30 16/03/2011 11:00
    2 16/03/2011 04:54 16/03/2011 05:33
    3 16/03/2011 05:30 16/03/2011 12:00
    4 18/03/2011 10:00 18/03/2011 16:00
    1 18/03/2011 11:00 18/03/2011 17:00
    2 18/03/2011 11:11 18/03/2011 11:50
    3 18/03/2011 12:00 18/03/2011 18:00
    4 20/03/2011 16:30 20/03/2011 21:30
    2 20/03/2011 17:28 20/03/2011 18:07
    1 20/03/2011 17:30 20/03/2011 22:30
    3 20/03/2011 18:30 20/03/2011 23:30
    4 22/03/2011 22:00 23/03/2011 06:00
    1 22/03/2011 23:00 23/03/2011 07:00
    2 22/03/2011 23:44 23/03/2011 00:24
    3 23/03/2011 00:00 23/03/2011 08:00
    4 25/03/2011 05:00 25/03/2011 11:00
    2 25/03/2011 05:59 25/03/2011 06:39
    1 25/03/2011 06:00 25/03/2011 12:00
    3 25/03/2011 07:00 25/03/2011 13:00
    4 27/03/2011 09:30 27/03/2011 17:00
    1 27/03/2011 10:30 27/03/2011 18:00
    3 27/03/2011 11:30 27/03/2011 19:00
    2 27/03/2011 12:14 27/03/2011 12:54
    1 29/03/2011 15:00 29/03/2011 23:30 10
    4 29/03/2011 16:05 29/03/2011 23:00 10
    3 29/03/2011 16:45 29/03/2011 23:30 10
    2 29/03/2011 18:29 29/03/2011 19:09
    4 31/03/2011 22:30 01/04/2011 06:30
    1 31/03/2011 23:30 01/04/2011 07:30
    3 01/04/2011 00:30 01/04/2011 08:30
    2 01/04/2011 00:45 01/04/2011 01:26
    1 03/04/2011 03:40 03/04/2011 14:30 11
    3 03/04/2011 04:50 03/04/2011 13:30 11
    4 03/04/2011 04:30 03/04/2011 12:30
    2 03/04/2011 07:02 03/04/2011 07:42
    4 05/04/2011 09:30 05/04/2011 17:15
    1 05/04/2011 10:30 05/04/2011 18:15
    3 05/04/2011 11:30 05/04/2011 19:15
    2 05/04/2011 13:17 05/04/2011 13:58
    4 07/04/2011 18:30 08/04/2011 03:00
    1 07/04/2011 19:30 08/04/2011 04:00
    2 07/04/2011 19:32 07/04/2011 20:13
    3 07/04/2011 20:30 08/04/2011 05:00
    4 10/04/2011 00:00 10/04/2011 07:00
    1 10/04/2011 01:00 10/04/2011 08:00
    2 10/04/2011 01:47 10/04/2011 02:28
    3 10/04/2011 02:00 10/04/2011 09:00
    4 12/04/2011 06:00 12/04/2011 13:00
    1 12/04/2011 07:00 12/04/2011 14:00
    3 12/04/2011 08:00 12/04/2011 15:00
    2 12/04/2011 08:02 12/04/2011 08:44
    4 14/04/2011 09:30 14/04/2011 18:30
    1 14/04/2011 10:30 14/04/2011 19:30
    3 14/04/2011 11:30 14/04/2011 20:30
    2 14/04/2011 14:18 14/04/2011 15:00
    4 16/04/2011 20:00 17/04/2011 03:30
    2 16/04/2011 20:34 16/04/2011 21:17
    1 16/04/2011 21:00 17/04/2011 04:30
    3 16/04/2011 22:00 17/04/2011 05:30
    4 18/04/2011 20:30 19/04/2011 08:00 9
    1 18/04/2011 21:30 19/04/2011 09:00 9
    2 19/04/2011 02:50 19/04/2011 03:33
    3 18/04/2011 22:30 19/04/2011 10:00 9
    4 21/04/2011 07:00 21/04/2011 14:00 12
    1 21/04/2011 08:00 21/04/2011 15:00 12
    2 21/04/2011 07:45 21/04/2011 09:48 12
    3 21/04/2011 09:00 21/04/2011 16:00 12
    4 23/04/2011 11:00 23/04/2011 19:00
    1 23/04/2011 15:00 24/04/2011 00:00
    2 23/04/2011 15:19 23/04/2011 16:03
    3 23/04/2011 16:00 24/04/2011 01:00
    4 25/04/2011 20:30 26/04/2011 03:30
    1 25/04/2011 21:30 26/04/2011 04:30
    2 25/04/2011 21:33 25/04/2011 22:18
    3 25/04/2011 22:30 26/04/2011 05:30
    4 28/04/2011 02:00 28/04/2011 09:00
    1 28/04/2011 03:00 28/04/2011 10:00
    2 28/04/2011 03:48 28/04/2011 04:33
    3 28/04/2011 04:00 28/04/2011 11:00
    4 30/04/2011 07:00 30/04/2011 15:00
    1 30/04/2011 08:00 30/04/2011 16:00
    3 30/04/2011 09:00 30/04/2011 17:00
    2 30/04/2011 10:04 30/04/2011 10:49
    2 02/05/2011 10:00 02/05/2011 21:00
    4 02/05/2011 10:00 02/05/2011 21:00
    1 02/05/2011 11:00 02/05/2011 21:30
    3 02/05/2011 16:00 03/05/2011 00:00
    2 04/05/2011 21:00 05/05/2011 04:00
    4 04/05/2011 21:00 05/05/2011 04:00
    1 04/05/2011 22:00 05/05/2011 06:00
    3 04/05/2011 23:00 05/05/2011 05:00
    2 07/05/2011 02:30 07/05/2011 12:00
    4 07/05/2011 02:30 07/05/2011 12:00
    1 07/05/2011 03:30 07/05/2011 13:00
    3 07/05/2011 04:30 07/05/2011 14:00
    2 09/05/2011 07:30 09/05/2011 15:30
    4 09/05/2011 07:30 09/05/2011 15:30
    1 09/05/2011 08:30 09/05/2011 16:30
    3 09/05/2011 09:30 09/05/2011 17:30
    2 11/05/2011 16:30 12/05/2011 01:00
    4 11/05/2011 16:30 12/05/2011 01:00
    1 11/05/2011 17:30 12/05/2011 02:00
    3 11/05/2011 18:30 12/05/2011 01:00
    2 13/05/2011 22:30 14/05/2011 05:00
    4 13/05/2011 22:30 14/05/2011 05:00
    1 13/05/2011 23:30 14/05/2011 06:00
    3 14/05/2011 00:30 14/05/2011 07:00
    2 16/05/2011 04:00 16/05/2011 11:30
    4 16/05/2011 04:00 16/05/2011 11:30
    1 16/05/2011 05:00 16/05/2011 12:30
    3 16/05/2011 06:00 16/05/2011 13:30
    2 18/05/2011 07:00 18/05/2011 17:00
    4 18/05/2011 07:00 18/05/2011 17:00
    1 18/05/2011 08:00 18/05/2011 18:00
    3 18/05/2011 09:00 18/05/2011 19:00
    2 20/05/2011 17:00 21/05/2011 01:00
    4 20/05/2011 17:00 21/05/2011 01:00
    1 20/05/2011 18:00 21/05/2011 02:00
    3 20/05/2011 19:00 21/05/2011 03:00
    2 22/05/2011 23:00 23/05/2011 06:00
    4 22/05/2011 23:00 23/05/2011 06:00
    1 23/05/2011 00:00 23/05/2011 07:00
    3 23/05/2011 01:00 23/05/2011 08:00
    2 25/05/2011 04:30 25/05/2011 12:00 13
    4 25/05/2011 05:00 25/05/2011 12:00
    1 25/05/2011 06:00 25/05/2011 13:00
    3 25/05/2011 07:00 25/05/2011 14:00
    2 27/05/2011 08:30 27/05/2011 17:00
    4 27/05/2011 08:30 27/05/2011 17:00
    1 27/05/2011 09:30 27/05/2011 18:00
    3 27/05/2011 13:00 27/05/2011 22:30
    2 29/05/2011 18:00 30/05/2011 01:00
    4 29/05/2011 18:00 30/05/2011 01:00
    1 29/05/2011 19:00 30/05/2011 02:00
    3 29/05/2011 20:00 30/05/2011 03:00
    2 01/06/2011 00:30 01/06/2011 07:30
    4 01/06/2011 00:30 01/06/2011 07:30
    1 01/06/2011 01:30 01/06/2011 08:30
    3 01/06/2011 02:30 01/06/2011 09:30
    2 03/06/2011 05:30 03/06/2011 13:00
    4 03/06/2011 05:30 03/06/2011 13:00
    1 03/06/2011 06:30 03/06/2011 14:00
    3 03/06/2011 07:30 03/06/2011 15:00
    2 05/06/2011 07:00 05/06/2011 17:30
    4 05/06/2011 07:00 05/06/2011 17:30
    1 05/06/2011 08:00 05/06/2011 18:30
    3 05/06/2011 09:00 05/06/2011 19:30
    2 07/06/2011 19:00 08/06/2011 02:00
    4 07/06/2011 19:00 08/06/2011 02:00
    1 07/06/2011 20:00 08/06/2011 03:00
    3 07/06/2011 21:00 08/06/2011 04:00
    2 10/06/2011 01:30 10/06/2011 09:00
    4 10/06/2011 01:30 10/06/2011 09:00
    1 10/06/2011 02:30 10/06/2011 10:00
    3 10/06/2011 03:30 10/06/2011 11:00
    2 12/06/2011 05:30 12/06/2011 13:30
    4 12/06/2011 05:30 12/06/2011 13:30
    1 12/06/2011 06:30 12/06/2011 14:30
    3 12/06/2011 07:30 12/06/2011 15:30
    2 14/06/2011 14:00 14/06/2011 22:30
    4 14/06/2011 14:00 14/06/2011 22:30
    1 14/06/2011 15:00 14/06/2011 23:30
    3 14/06/2011 16:00 15/06/2011 00:30
    2 16/06/2011 20:00 17/06/2011 03:00
    4 16/06/2011 20:00 17/06/2011 03:00
    1 16/06/2011 21:00 17/06/2011 04:00
    3 16/06/2011 22:00 17/06/2011 05:00
    2 19/06/2011 02:30 19/06/2011 09:30
    4 19/06/2011 02:30 19/06/2011 09:30
    1 19/06/2011 03:30 19/06/2011 10:30
    3 19/06/2011 04:30 19/06/2011 11:30
    2 21/06/2011 05:30 21/06/2011 14:30
    4 21/06/2011 05:30 21/06/2011 14:30
    1 21/06/2011 06:30 21/06/2011 15:30
    3 21/06/2011 07:30 21/06/2011 16:30
    2 23/06/2011 14:30 23/06/2011 22:00
    4 23/06/2011 14:30 23/06/2011 22:00
    1 23/06/2011 15:30 23/06/2011 23:00
    3 23/06/2011 16:30 24/06/2011 00:00
    2 25/06/2011 19:00 26/06/2011 05:00
    4 25/06/2011 19:00 26/06/2011 05:00
    1 25/06/2011 20:00 26/06/2011 06:00
    3 25/06/2011 21:00 26/06/2011 07:00
    2 28/06/2011 03:00 28/06/2011 10:00
    4 28/06/2011 03:00 28/06/2011 10:00
    1 28/06/2011 04:00 28/06/2011 11:00
    3 28/06/2011 05:00 28/06/2011 12:00
    2 30/06/2011 05:00 30/06/2011 15:00
    4 30/06/2011 05:00 30/06/2011 15:00
    1 30/06/2011 06:00 30/06/2011 16:00
    3 30/06/2011 07:00 30/06/2011 17:00
    2 02/07/2011 15:30 02/07/2011 23:30
    4 02/07/2011 15:30 02/07/2011 23:30
    1 02/07/2011 16:30 03/07/2011 00:30
    3 02/07/2011 17:30 03/07/2011 01:30
    2 04/07/2011 22:00 05/07/2011 05:00
    4 04/07/2011 22:00 05/07/2011 05:00
    1 04/07/2011 23:00 05/07/2011 06:00
    3 05/07/2011 00:00 05/07/2011 07:00
    2 07/07/2011 03:00 07/07/2011 10:30
    4 07/07/2011 03:00 07/07/2011 10:30
    1 07/07/2011 04:00 07/07/2011 11:30
    3 07/07/2011 05:00 07/07/2011 12:30
    2 09/07/2011 05:00 09/07/2011 16:00
    4 09/07/2011 05:00 09/07/2011 16:30
    1 09/07/2011 06:00 09/07/2011 17:00
    3 09/07/2011 07:00 09/07/2011 21:00
    2 11/07/2011 16:00 12/07/2011 00:00
    4 11/07/2011 16:00 12/07/2011 00:00
    1 11/07/2011 17:00 12/07/2011 01:00
    3 11/07/2011 18:00 12/07/2011 02:00
    2 13/07/2011 21:00 14/07/2011 07:00
    4 13/07/2011 21:00 14/07/2011 07:00
    1 13/07/2011 22:00 14/07/2011 08:00
    3 13/07/2011 23:00 14/07/2011 09:00
    2 16/07/2011 03:00 16/07/2011 11:00
    4 16/07/2011 03:00 16/07/2011 11:00
    1 16/07/2011 04:00 16/07/2011 12:00
    3 16/07/2011 05:00 16/07/2011 13:00
    2 18/07/2011 11:00 18/07/2011 20:30
    4 18/07/2011 11:00 18/07/2011 20:30
    1 18/07/2011 12:00 18/07/2011 21:30
    3 18/07/2011 13:00 18/07/2011 22:30
    4 20/07/2011 17:00 21/07/2011 00:00
    1 20/07/2011 18:00 21/07/2011 01:00
    3 20/07/2011 19:00 21/07/2011 02:00
    4 22/07/2011 23:30 23/07/2011 06:30
    1 23/07/2011 00:30 23/07/2011 07:30
    3 23/07/2011 01:30 23/07/2011 08:30

    Attitude manoeuvres, April 2011

    In April 2011, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 21 Apr, 08:00 (sc 4)
  • 21 Apr, 08:45 (sc 2)
  • 21 Apr, 09:00 (sc 1)
  • 21 Apr, 10:00 (sc 3)

    These times fall at or close to the start of the eclipse payload-off periods for these spacecraft, so to provide manoeuvre protection the nominal start of the eclipse payload-off period has been brought forward to start one hour before the manoeuvre.

    These will be followed by trim manoeuvres on 7 May as follows:

  • 07 May, 04:35 (sc 2)
  • 07 May, 05:00 (sc 4)
  • 07 May, 05:20 (sc 1)
  • 07 May, 06:45 (sc 3)

    These times fall well inside the eclipse payload-off periods for these spacecraft, so no adjustments are required.

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.


    Trim manoeuvre, May 2011

    In May 2011, there will be a trim manoeuvre on Clsuter 2 to adjust for orbit drag. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 25 May, 05:30 (sc 2)

    This time falls close to the start of the eclipse payload-off period for this spacecraft, so to provide manoeuvre protection the nominal start of the eclipse payload-off period has been brought forward to start 30 minutes before the manoeuvre.

    The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burn.


    Orbit and attitude manoeuvres, July/September 2011

    In July, August and September 2011, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the orbits of the spacecraft and also to keep their attitudes within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times and the surrounding no-data-taking periods are shown in the table below. In general, we stop data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after each manoeuvre. But this may be reduced to retain existing WBD operations if these are not overlapping or very close to the manoeuvre burns.

    However, the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.

    Notes

    1. The no-data-taking period on C2 on 25 July starts only 12 minutes before the manoeuvre. This allows us to retain a high-priority BM2 period planned to end at 0810.

    2. There are two manoeuvres on C3 on 25 July. These are consolidated into a single no-data-taking period.

    3. The no-data-taking periods on C1, C2 and C4 on 26 August start only 33, 39 and 26 minutes respectively before the manoeuvre burn for their spacecraft. This allows us to retain a high-priority BM2 period planned to end at 0035.

    4. The manoeuvres on all four spacecraft on 1 September are very close in time, so the no-data-taking periods have been consolidated into a single period. This starts only 50 and 53 minutes before the manoeuvre burns on C1 and C3/C4 respectively. This allows us to retain a high priority BM1 period planned to end at 1900.

    S/c Payload to no data-taking Manoeuvre start Manoeuvre end Data-taking restarts See note
    2 20/07/2011 18:33 20/07/2011 19:33 20/07/2011 19:34 21/07/2011 02:34
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    3 31/07/2011 02:26 31/07/2011 03:26 31/07/2011 03:30 31/07/2011 10:30
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    3 05/08/2011 16:44 05/08/2011 17:44 05/08/2011 17:45 06/08/2011 00:45
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    3 31/07/2011 02:26 31/07/2011 03:26 31/07/2011 03:30 31/07/2011 10:30
    2 05/08/2011 15:02 05/08/2011 16:02 05/08/2011 16:03 05/08/2011 16:45
    4 05/08/2011 15:46 05/08/2011 16:46 05/08/2011 16:47 05/08/2011 18:47
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    2 21/08/2011 11:51 21/08/2011 12:51 21/08/2011 12:53 21/08/2011 15:05
    3 21/08/2011 12:14 21/08/2011 13:14 21/08/2011 13:16 21/08/2011 20:16
    4 26/08/2011 00:48 26/08/2011 01:14 26/08/2011 01:15 26/08/2011 08:15 3
    1 26/08/2011 00:48 26/08/2011 01:21 26/08/2011 01:22 26/08/2011 08:22 3
    2 26/08/2011 00:45 26/08/2011 01:24 26/08/2011 01:25 26/08/2011 03:12 3
    3 26/08/2011 00:45 26/08/2011 01:45 26/08/2011 01:46 26/08/2011 08:46
    1 01/09/2011 19:20 01/09/2011 20:10 01/09/2011 20:11 02/09/2011 03:36 4
    3 01/09/2011 19:20 01/09/2011 20:13 01/09/2011 20:14 02/09/2011 03:36 4
    4 01/09/2011 19:20 01/09/2011 20:13 01/09/2011 20:14 02/09/2011 03:36 4
    2 01/09/2011 19:20 01/09/2011 20:25 01/09/2011 20:26 02/09/2011 03:36 4

    Attitude manoeuvres, November 2011

    In November 2011, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitudes of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 11 Nov, 08:45 (sc 1)
  • 11 Nov, 09:55 (sc 2)
  • 11 Nov, 11:05 (sc 3)
  • 11 Nov, 12:15 (sc 4)

    These will be followed by trim manoeuvres as follows:

  • 17 Nov, 17:28 (sc 1)
  • 17 Nov, 17:43 (sc 2)
  • 17 Nov, 17:28 (sc 3)
  • 17 Nov, 17:28 (sc 4)

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, there will be no data-taking on all four spacecraft around these two sets of manoeuvres: (a) from 07:45 to 19:15 on 11 Nov and (b) from 16:29 to 20:51 on 17 Nov. The short no-data-taking period on 17 Nov preserves a planned group of WBD operations on sc 1, 3 and 4, starting at 21:23. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.

    Long eclipses 2011-2012

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses between 29 November 2011 and 10 April 2012. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below.

    Notes

    1. The switch-on of spacecraft 2 is delayed until 05:05 to avoid start up during BM1 operations.

    2. Eclipse periods on 16/17 Dec and 01/02 Jan extended due to ground station constraints at Kourou.

    3. Eclipse periods on 22 Jan, 26 Jan, 02 Feb, 22 Feb, 24 Feb. 29 Feb and 7 Mar extended to cover manoeuvres.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Notes
    2 29/11/2011 01:11 29/11/2011 01:46
    2 01/12/2011 07:24 01/12/2011 08:05
    2 03/12/2011 13:38 03/12/2011 14:22
    2 05/12/2011 19:52 05/12/2011 20:39
    2 07/12/2011 20:30 08/12/2011 05:05 1
    2 10/12/2011 07:00 10/12/2011 12:00
    2 12/12/2011 13:30 12/12/2011 20:30
    4 14/12/2011 15:30 15/12/2011 00:00
    3 14/12/2011 16:30 15/12/2011 01:00
    1 14/12/2011 17:30 15/12/2011 02:00
    2 14/12/2011 18:30 14/12/2011 23:00
    4 16/12/2011 17:00 17/12/2011 10:00 2
    3 16/12/2011 18:00 17/12/2011 11:00 2
    1 16/12/2011 19:00 17/12/2011 12:00 2
    2 16/12/2011 20:00 17/12/2011 09:00 2
    4 19/12/2011 05:00 19/12/2011 15:00
    3 19/12/2011 06:00 19/12/2011 16:00
    1 19/12/2011 07:00 19/12/2011 17:00
    2 19/12/2011 08:00 19/12/2011 14:00
    4 21/12/2011 11:30 21/12/2011 20:30
    3 21/12/2011 12:30 21/12/2011 21:30
    1 21/12/2011 13:30 21/12/2011 22:30
    2 21/12/2011 14:30 21/12/2011 19:30
    4 23/12/2011 15:15 24/12/2011 02:30
    3 23/12/2011 16:15 24/12/2011 03:30
    1 23/12/2011 17:15 24/12/2011 04:30
    2 23/12/2011 18:15 24/12/2011 01:30
    4 26/12/2011 00:20 26/12/2011 10:00
    3 26/12/2011 01:20 26/12/2011 11:00
    1 26/12/2011 02:20 26/12/2011 12:00
    2 26/12/2011 03:20 26/12/2011 09:00
    4 28/12/2011 06:00 28/12/2011 16:00
    3 28/12/2011 07:00 28/12/2011 17:00
    1 28/12/2011 08:00 28/12/2011 18:00
    2 28/12/2011 09:00 28/12/2011 15:00
    4 30/12/2011 12:30 30/12/2011 22:30
    3 30/12/2011 13:30 30/12/2011 23:30
    1 30/12/2011 14:30 31/12/2011 00:30
    2 30/12/2011 15:30 30/12/2011 21:30
    4 01/01/2012 15:30 02/01/2012 06:30 2
    3 01/01/2012 16:30 02/01/2012 07:30 2
    1 01/01/2012 17:30 02/01/2012 08:30 2
    2 01/01/2012 18:30 02/01/2012 02:00 2
    4 04/01/2012 01:00 04/01/2012 11:00
    3 04/01/2012 02:00 04/01/2012 12:00
    1 04/01/2012 03:00 04/01/2012 13:00
    2 04/01/2012 04:00 04/01/2012 10:00
    4 06/01/2012 06:45 06/01/2012 16:30
    3 06/01/2012 07:45 06/01/2012 17:30
    1 06/01/2012 08:45 06/01/2012 18:30
    2 06/01/2012 09:45 06/01/2012 15:30
    4 08/01/2012 13:00 08/01/2012 22:00
    3 08/01/2012 14:00 08/01/2012 23:00
    1 08/01/2012 15:00 09/01/2012 00:00
    2 08/01/2012 16:00 08/01/2012 21:00
    2 10/01/2012 15:00 11/01/2012 02:15
    4 10/01/2012 16:00 11/01/2012 03:15
    1 10/01/2012 17:00 11/01/2012 04:15
    3 10/01/2012 18:00 11/01/2012 07:00
    2 13/01/2012 01:30 13/01/2012 10:30
    4 13/01/2012 02:30 13/01/2012 11:30
    1 13/01/2012 03:30 13/01/2012 12:30
    3 13/01/2012 04:30 13/01/2012 13:30
    2 15/01/2012 08:00 15/01/2012 16:00
    4 15/01/2012 09:00 15/01/2012 18:00
    1 15/01/2012 10:00 15/01/2012 18:00
    3 15/01/2012 11:00 15/01/2012 19:00
    2 17/01/2012 13:00 17/01/2012 22:00
    4 17/01/2012 14:00 17/01/2012 23:00
    1 17/01/2012 15:00 18/01/2012 00:00
    3 17/01/2012 16:00 18/01/2012 00:00
    4 19/01/2012 18:00 20/01/2012 08:00
    2 19/01/2012 21:00 20/01/2012 07:00
    1 19/01/2012 22:00 20/01/2012 09:00
    3 19/01/2012 23:00 20/01/2012 10:00
    2 22/01/2012 02:30 22/01/2012 11:00
    4 22/01/2012 03:30 22/01/2012 12:00
    3 22/01/2012 04:30 22/01/2012 17:00 3
    1 22/01/2012 05:30 22/01/2012 14:00
    2 24/01/2012 09:00 24/01/2012 17:00
    4 24/01/2012 10:00 24/01/2012 18:00
    1 24/01/2012 11:00 24/01/2012 19:00
    3 24/01/2012 12:00 24/01/2012 20:00
    2 26/01/2012 13:00 26/01/2012 22:30
    4 26/01/2012 14:00 26/01/2012 23:30
    1 26/01/2012 15:00 27/01/2012 00:30
    3 26/01/2012 14:43 27/01/2012 01:30 3
    2 28/01/2012 21:00 29/01/2012 07:00
    4 28/01/2012 22:00 29/01/2012 08:00
    1 28/01/2012 23:00 29/01/2012 09:00
    3 29/01/2012 00:00 29/01/2012 10:00
    2 31/01/2012 04:00 31/01/2012 12:00
    4 31/01/2012 05:00 31/01/2012 13:00
    3 31/01/2012 06:00 31/01/2012 14:00
    1 31/01/2012 07:00 31/01/2012 15:00
    2 02/02/2012 10:00 02/02/2012 19:00
    4 02/02/2012 11:00 02/02/2012 20:00
    1 02/02/2012 12:00 02/02/2012 21:00
    3 02/02/2012 09:30 02/02/2012 22:00 3
    2 04/02/2012 15:00 04/02/2012 23:30
    4 04/02/2012 16:00 05/02/2012 00:30
    1 04/02/2012 17:00 05/02/2012 01:30
    3 04/02/2012 18:00 05/02/2012 02:30
    2 06/02/2012 23:00 07/02/2012 08:00
    4 07/02/2012 00:00 07/02/2012 09:00
    1 07/02/2012 01:00 07/02/2012 10:00
    3 07/02/2012 02:00 07/02/2012 11:00
    2 09/02/2012 05:00 09/02/2012 13:30
    4 09/02/2012 06:00 09/02/2012 14:30
    1 09/02/2012 07:00 09/02/2012 15:30
    3 09/02/2012 08:00 09/02/2012 16:30
    2 11/02/2012 11:00 11/02/2012 19:00
    4 11/02/2012 12:00 11/02/2012 20:00
    1 11/02/2012 13:00 11/02/2012 21:00
    3 11/02/2012 14:00 11/02/2012 22:00
    2 13/02/2012 13:00 14/02/2012 00:30
    4 13/02/2012 14:00 14/02/2012 01:30
    1 13/02/2012 15:00 14/02/2012 02:30
    3 13/02/2012 16:00 14/02/2012 05:00
    2 16/02/2012 00:00 16/02/2012 09:00
    4 16/02/2012 01:00 16/02/2012 10:00
    1 16/02/2012 02:00 16/02/2012 11:00
    3 16/02/2012 03:00 16/02/2012 12:00
    2 18/02/2012 07:00 18/02/2012 14:30
    4 18/02/2012 08:00 18/02/2012 15:30
    1 18/02/2012 09:00 18/02/2012 16:30
    3 18/02/2012 09:30 18/02/2012 17:30
    2 20/02/2012 11:30 20/02/2012 19:30
    4 20/02/2012 12:30 20/02/2012 20:30
    1 20/02/2012 13:30 20/02/2012 21:30
    3 20/02/2012 14:30 20/02/2012 22:30
    2 22/02/2012 19:00 23/02/2012 03:00
    4 22/02/2012 20:00 23/02/2012 04:00
    1 22/02/2012 21:00 23/02/2012 05:00
    3 22/02/2012 20:46 23/02/2012 06:00 3
    2 24/02/2012 21:00 25/02/2012 09:00 3
    4 24/02/2012 21:00 25/02/2012 10:00 3
    1 24/02/2012 21:00 25/02/2012 11:00 3
    3 25/02/2012 04:00 25/02/2012 12:00
    2 27/02/2012 07:30 27/02/2012 15:00
    4 27/02/2012 08:30 27/02/2012 16:00
    1 27/02/2012 09:30 27/02/2012 17:00
    3 27/02/2012 10:30 27/02/2012 18:00
    2 29/02/2012 11:30 29/02/2012 21:30
    4 29/02/2012 12:30 29/02/2012 22:30
    1 29/02/2012 13:30 29/02/2012 23:30
    3 29/02/2012 12:50 01/03/2012 00:30 3
    2 02/03/2012 20:30 03/03/2012 05:00
    4 02/03/2012 21:30 03/03/2012 06:00
    1 02/03/2012 22:30 03/03/2012 07:00
    3 02/03/2012 23:30 03/03/2012 08:00
    2 05/03/2012 02:30 05/03/2012 10:00
    4 05/03/2012 03:30 05/03/2012 11:00
    1 05/03/2012 04:30 05/03/2012 12:00
    3 05/03/2012 05:30 05/03/2012 13:00
    2 07/03/2012 08:30 07/03/2012 17:30
    4 07/03/2012 09:30 07/03/2012 18:30
    1 07/03/2012 10:30 07/03/2012 19:30
    3 07/03/2012 10:00 07/03/2012 20:30 3
    2 09/03/2012 13:00 09/03/2012 21:30
    4 09/03/2012 14:00 09/03/2012 22:30
    1 09/03/2012 15:00 09/03/2012 23:30
    3 09/03/2012 16:00 10/03/2012 00:30
    4 11/03/2012 23:00 12/03/2012 06:00
    3 12/03/2012 00:00 12/03/2012 07:00
    2 12/03/2012 01:18 12/03/2012 01:55
    2 14/03/2012 07:34 14/03/2012 08:11
    2 16/03/2012 13:50 16/03/2012 14:26
    2 18/03/2012 20:06 18/03/2012 20:42
    2 21/03/2012 02:23 21/03/2012 02:58
    2 23/03/2012 08:40 23/03/2012 09:14
    2 25/03/2012 14:57 25/03/2012 15:30
    2 27/03/2012 21:12 27/03/2012 21:45
    2 30/03/2012 03:29 30/03/2012 04:00
    2 01/04/2012 09:45 01/04/2012 10:16
    2 03/04/2012 16:03 03/04/2012 16:32
    2 05/04/2012 22:21 05/04/2012 22:48
    2 08/04/2012 04:38 08/04/2012 05:04
    2 10/04/2012 10:55 10/04/2012 11:18

    Orbit and attitude manoeuvres, January/April 2012

    In January to April 2012, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the orbits of the spacecraft and also to keep their attitudes within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times and the surrounding no-data-taking periods are shown in the table below. In general, we stop data-taking from 1 hour before each manoeuvre until 7 hours after each manoeuvre. But this may be reduced to retain existing WBD operations if these are not overlapping or very close to the manoeuvre burns.

    However, the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.

    Notes

    1. These manoeuvres are close to, or within, existing payload-off periods for eclipses. So we have extended these periods, where needed, to cover the manoeuvre safety periods.

    2. There are two close manoeuvres on 22 Jan, so they are combined into a single no-data-taking period.

    3. The attitude manoeuvres on 17 February are 14 to 17 hours before the start of the eclipse payload-off periods, so we have a separate payload-off period for these manoeuvres.

    4. The orbit manoeuvres on 23 March and 5 April will occur sometime within a 40 minute window

    S/c Payload to no data-taking Manoeuvre start Manoeuvre end Data-taking restarts See note
    3 22/01/2012 04:30 22/01/2012 06:14 22/01/2012 06:16 1,2
    3 22/01/2012 12:55 22/01/2012 12:56 22/01/2012 17:00 1,2
    3 26/01/2012 14:43 26/01/2012 15:43 26/01/2012 15:44 27/01/2012 01:30 1
    3 02/02/2012 09:30 02/02/2012 10:30 02/02/2012 10:31 02/02/2012 22:00 1
    3 17/02/2012 13:00 17/02/2012 14:00 17/02/2012 14:01 17/02/2012 18:30 3
    4 17/02/2012 13:00 17/02/2012 15:00 17/02/2012 15:01 17/02/2012 18:30 3
    1 17/02/2012 13:00 17/02/2012 16:00 17/02/2012 16:01 17/02/2012 18:30 3
    2 17/02/2012 13:00 17/02/2012 17:00 17/02/2012 17:01 17/02/2012 18:30 3
    3 20/02/2012 14:30 20/02/2012 19:57 20/02/2012 19:58 20/02/2012 22:30 1
    3 22/02/2012 20:46 22/02/2012 21:46 22/02/2012 21:47 23/02/2012 06:00 1
    1 24/02/2012 21:00 24/02/2012 22:00 24/02/2012 22:01 25/02/2012 11:00 1
    2 24/02/2012 21:00 24/02/2012 22:00 24/02/2012 22:01 25/02/2012 09:00 1
    4 24/02/2012 21:00 24/02/2012 22:00 24/02/2012 22:01 25/02/2012 10:00 1
    3 25/02/2012 04:00 25/02/2012 08:38 25/02/2012 08:39 25/02/2012 12:00 1
    3 29/02/2012 12:50 29/02/2012 13:50 29/02/2012 13:51 01/03/2012 00:30 1
    3 07/03/2012 10:00 07/03/2012 11:00 07/03/2012 11:01 07/03/2012 20:30 1
    4 23/03/2012 07:22 23/03/2012 08:22 23/03/2012 09:02 23/03/2012 16:02 4
    4 05/04/2012 21:02 05/04/2012 22:02 05/04/2012 22:42 06/04/2012 05:42 4

    Lunar eclipses, May and June 2012

    The Cluster 1, 3 and 4 spacecraft will experience lunar eclipses in May and June 2012. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Notes
    1 21/05/2012 02:00 21/05/2012 10:00
    3 21/05/2012 03:40 21/05/2012 04:21
    4 21/05/2012 03:40 21/05/2012 04:21
    1 19/06/2012 13:30 19/06/2012 21:30

    Attitude and orbit manoeuvres, May/July 2012

    In May 2012, there will be a series of manoeuvres to adjust the attitude s of the spacecraft to keep these within operational limits with respect to the Sun. The manoeuvre times are shown below.

  • 22 May, 09:35 (sc 1)
  • 22 May, 08:50 (sc 2)
  • 22 May, 08:05 (sc 3)
  • 22 May, 07:25 (sc 4)

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, there will be no data-taking on all four spacecraft around these manoeuvres from 07:25 to 16:36 on 22 May.

    These will be followed trim/orbit drift start manoeuvres as follows:

  • 1 June, 11:06 (sc 1)
  • 1 June, 11:06 (sc 2)
  • 1 June, 11:06 (sc 3)
  • 1 June, 11:06 (sc 4)

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, there will be no data-taking on all four spacecraft around these manoeuvres from 10:06 to 12:07 on 1 June. This period is short in order to preserve existing WBD operations around the perigee of orbit 1853.

    These in turn will be followed by orbit drift stop manoeuvres as follows:

  • 28 June, 14:17 (sc 1) - no-data-taking from 13:17 to 17:30
  • 28 June, 13:49 (sc 3) - no-data-taking from 12:49 to 17:30
  • 05 July, 09:33 (sc 1) - no-data-taking from 08:33 to 16:34

    The no-data-taking periods on 28 June will end earlier than normal in order to preserve existing WBD operations. The instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.

    Long eclipses, Summer 2012

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of umbral eclipses between 16 July and 10 August 2012. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below. Note that, for these eclipses, there will be a single long payload-off period on each spacecraft.

    The Bryant plots show the payload-off period that is common to all four spacecraft, namely 20/07/2012 23:38 to 08/08/2012 16:30.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on
    1 18/07/2012 17:57 08/08/2012 16:30
    2 16/07/2012 02:29 08/08/2012 16:30
    3 20/07/2012 23:38 10/08/2012 14:30
    4 20/07/2012 23:36 10/08/2012 14:30



    Attitude manoeuvres, August and September 2012

    There will be manoeuvres in August and September, times shown below with adjustments (where necessary) to preserve existing WBD operations.

  • 28 August, 15:39 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 14:41 to 19:20

  • 4 September, 12:21 (part1) (sc1) - no-data-taking for part 1 and part 2 combined
  • 4 September, 13:14 (part2) (sc1) - - from 11:21 to 20:15
  • 4 September, 11:03 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 10:03 to 18:04
  • 4 September, 11:24 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 10:24 to 18:25
  • 4 September, 10:27 (sc4) - no-data-taking from 09:27 to 12:00

  • 13 September, 12:25 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 11:25 to 19:26
  • 13 September, 11:34 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 10:34 to 14:35
  • 13 September, 13:09 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 12:09 to 20:10
  • 13 September, 11:38 (sc4) - no-data-taking from 10:38 to 12:39

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.



    Lunar eclipses, September and October 2012

    The Cluster 1 and 2 spacecraft will experience lunar eclipses in October and September 2012 respectively. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below.

    Spacecraft Payload off Payload on Notes
    2 15/09/2012 19:35 15/09/2012 20:14 ESOC request SHORT OFF from 19:25 to 20:23
    1 15/10/2012 06:47 15/10/2012 07:11 ESOC request SHORT OFF from 06:37 to 07:21



    Attitude manoeuvres, November 2012

    There will be manoeuvres in November, times shown below will be adjusted (where necessary) to preserve existing WBD operations.

  • 4 November, 14:41 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 13:41 to 21:42
  • 4 November, 07:34 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 06:34 to 14:35
  • 4 November, 20:58 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 19:58 to 03:59

  • 15 November, 22:02 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 21:02 to 05:03
  • 15 November, 14:56 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 13:56 to 21:57
  • 16 November, 04:27 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 03:27 to 11:28

  • 22 November, 16:31 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 15:31 to 23:32
  • 22 November, 10:43 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 09:43 to 17:44
  • 22 November, 22:01 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 21:01 to 05:02

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.



    Attitude manoeuvres, December 2012

    There will be manoeuvres in December, times shown below will be adjusted (where necessary) to preserve existing WBD operations.

  • 18 December, 10:30 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 09:30 to 17:31

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.



    Manoeuvres, Early 2013

    There will be manoeuvres in January, February, March, times shown below will be adjusted (where necessary) to preserve existing WBD operations.

  • 2 January, 06:10 (sc4) - no-data-taking from 05:10 to 07:48 (WBD starts at 07:55)
  • 2 January, 06:31 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 05:31 to 10:28 (WBD starts at 10:35)
  • 2 January, 06:50 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 05:50 to 13:51

  • 6 January, 20:01 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 19:01 to 03:02 on 7 January

  • 9 January, 02:00 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 01:00 to 04:18 (WBD starts at 04:25)
  • 9 January, 02:16 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 01:16 to 03:43 (WBD starts at 03:50)

  • 11 January, 06:56 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 05:56 to 13:57 (Eclipse off extended 05:56 to 13:57)
  • 11 January, 08:26 (sc4) - no-data-taking from 07:26 to 15:27

  • 13 January, 12:49 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 11:49 to 19:50 (Eclipse off extended 11:49 to 19:50)

  • 20 January, 08:01 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 07:01 to 15:30 (Eclipse off from 07:00 to 15:30)
  • 20 January, 08:09 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 07:09 to 15:10 (Eclipse off extended 07:09 to 15:10)

  • 22 January, 13:51 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 12:51 to 22:00 (Eclipse off extended 12:51 to 22:00)

  • 16 February, 10:58 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 09:58 to 17:59 (Eclipse off extended 09:58 to 17:59)

  • **** UPDATED 29 Jan 2013, from ESOC manoeuvre plan v003 ****
  • 13 March, 09:53 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 09:23 to 16:58
  • 13 March, 09:59 (sc1) - no-data-taking from 09:29 to 11:00 (WEC OFF 09:52 to 10:20)
  • 13 March, 09:59 (sc3) - no-data-taking from 09:29 to 11:00
  • 13 March, 10:02 (sc4) - no-data-taking from 09:32 to 11:03

  • 22 March, 11:10 (sc2) - no-data-taking from 10:10 to 18:11

    As those instruments sensitive to manoeuvres must be put in safe modes around the manoeuvres, and the instruments sensitive to manoeuvres will remain in their safe modes until at least 8 hours after the manoeuvre burns.



    Eclipses, early 2013

    The Cluster spacecraft will experience a series of eclipses in January, February and March 2013. There will not be enough power to operate the payloads in these periods, so they will switched off as shown in the table below. Due to the latest power constraints the SSRs will be emptied before each eclipse. There is some risk of losing the last few hours of science data before the eclipse. To allow the Guest Investigator observations, large Burst Mode operations before the eclipses were agreed in advance with ESOC. These data will have priority over normal data. Some WBD passes, during the last 12 hours before eclipse, could need to be cancelled, in case they conflict with the extra passes needed to empty the SSR before the eclipse.

    The following eclipses have been extended to include manoeuvres:

  • 11 Jan C2
  • 13 Jan C3
  • 20 Jan C2, C3
  • 22 Jan C1
  • 16 Feb C2

    Spacecraft Type Payload off Payload on
    C2SHORT OFF06 Jan 19:20 06 Jan 19:53
    C2 LONG OFF 09 Jan 0:00 09 Jan 3:00
    C2 LONG OFF 11 Jan 5:56 11 Jan 13:57
    C1 LONG OFF 11 Jan 6:00 11 Jan 13:00
    C2 LONG OFF 13 Jan 11:00 13 Jan 17:00
    C4 LONG OFF 13 Jan 11:00 13 Jan 18:00
    C3 LONG OFF 13 Jan 11:49 13 Jan 19:50
    C1 LONG OFF 13 Jan 13:00 13 Jan 20:00
    C2 LONG OFF 15 Jan 15:00 15 Jan 23:00
    C3 LONG OFF 15 Jan 15:00 16 Jan 0:00
    C4 LONG OFF 15 Jan 16:00 16 Jan 1:00
    C1 LONG OFF 15 Jan 16:30 16 Jan 2:00
    C2 LONG OFF 18 Jan 0:00 18 Jan 5:00
    C3 LONG OFF 18 Jan 0:00 18 Jan 11:00
    C1 LONG OFF 18 Jan 1:00 18 Jan 8:30
    C4 LONG OFF 18 Jan 1:00 18 Jan 11:00
    C4 LONG OFF 20 Jan 5:00 20 Jan 13:30
    C1 LONG OFF 20 Jan 6:00 20 Jan 14:30
    C2 LONG OFF 20 Jan 7:00 20 Jan 15:30
    C3 LONG OFF 20 Jan 7:09 20 Jan 15:10
    C3 LONG OFF 22 Jan 11:30 22 Jan 20:00
    C2 LONG OFF 22 Jan 13:00 22 Jan 21:00
    C1 LONG OFF 22 Jan 12:51 22 Jan 22:00
    C4 LONG OFF 22 Jan 13:00 22 Jan 23:00
    C2 LONG OFF 24 Jan 16:30 25 Jan 0:30
    C1 LONG OFF 24 Jan 16:30 25 Jan 1:15
    C3 LONG OFF 24 Jan 16:30 25 Jan 7:00
    C4 LONG OFF 24 Jan 17:30 25 Jan 7:00
    C2 LONG OFF 27 Jan 0:30 27 Jan 9:00
    C1 LONG OFF 27 Jan 0:30 27 Jan 10:00
    C3 LONG OFF 27 Jan 2:00 27 Jan 12:00
    C4 LONG OFF 27 Jan 2:00 27 Jan 12:00
    C2 LONG OFF 29 Jan 6:00 29 Jan 13:00
    C3 LONG OFF 29 Jan 7:00 29 Jan 15:00
    C4 LONG OFF 29 Jan 9:00 29 Jan 17:30
    C1 LONG OFF 29 Jan 9:30 29 Jan 18:30
    C4 LONG OFF 31 Jan 12:00 31 Jan 21:30
    C3 LONG OFF 31 Jan 12:00 31 Jan 22:00
    C2 LONG OFF 31 Jan 14:00 31 Jan 19:30
    C1 LONG OFF 31 Jan 14:00 31 Jan 23:00
    C2 LONG OFF 02 Feb 14:30 03 Feb 1:30
    C1 LONG OFF 02 Feb 15:00 03 Feb 3:30
    C4 LONG OFF 02 Feb 15:30 03 Feb 5:00
    C3 LONG OFF 02 Feb 16:00 03 Feb 6:30
    C2 LONG OFF 05 Feb 0:30 05 Feb 9:00
    C1 LONG OFF 05 Feb 1:30 05 Feb 11:00
    C3 LONG OFF 05 Feb 2:30 05 Feb 12:00
    C4 LONG OFF 05 Feb 3:30 05 Feb 13:00
    C2 LONG OFF 07 Feb 6:35 07 Feb 14:00
    C1 LONG OFF 07 Feb 9:00 07 Feb 16:00
    C3 LONG OFF 07 Feb 10:00 07 Feb 18:00
    C4 LONG OFF 07 Feb 10:00 07 Feb 18:00
    C4 LONG OFF 09 Feb 12:50 09 Feb 22:00
    C2 LONG OFF 09 Feb 13:00 09 Feb 21:00
    C1 LONG OFF 09 Feb 13:30 09 Feb 23:00
    C3 LONG OFF 09 Feb 15:00 10 Feb 4:30
    C2 LONG OFF 11 Feb 15:00 12 Feb 5:00
    C3 LONG OFF 11 Feb 16:30 12 Feb 7:00
    C1 LONG OFF 11 Feb 22:00 12 Feb 8:00
    C4 LONG OFF 11 Feb 22:00 12 Feb 9:00
    C2 LONG OFF 14 Feb 3:30 14 Feb 10:00
    C1 LONG OFF 14 Feb 3:30 14 Feb 12:00
    C3 LONG OFF 14 Feb 4:30 14 Feb 13:00
    C4 LONG OFF 14 Feb 5:30 14 Feb 14:00
    C4 LONG OFF 16 Feb 10:00 16 Feb 17:00
    C3 LONG OFF 16 Feb 10:00 16 Feb 19:00
    C2 LONG OFF 16 Feb 9:58 16 Feb 17:59
    C1 LONG OFF 16 Feb 11:00 16 Feb 19:00
    C2 LONG OFF 18 Feb 13:00 18 Feb 21:30
    C1 LONG OFF 18 Feb 13:30 18 Feb 22:30
    C4 LONG OFF 18 Feb 14:00 18 Feb 23:30
    C3 LONG OFF 18 Feb 14:30 19 Feb 0:30
    C4 LONG OFF 20 Feb 22:00 21 Feb 4:00
    C2 LONG OFF 20 Feb 22:00 21 Feb 6:00
    C1 LONG OFF 20 Feb 23:00 21 Feb 9:00
    C3 LONG OFF 20 Feb 23:00 21 Feb 10:00
    C2 LONG OFF 23 Feb 4:30 23 Feb 11:00
    C1 LONG OFF 23 Feb 5:00 23 Feb 13:00
    C3 LONG OFF 23 Feb 6:00 23 Feb 14:00
    C4 LONG OFF 23 Feb 6:00 23 Feb 15:00
    C2 LONG OFF 25 Feb 10:30 25 Feb 16:30
    C1 LONG OFF 25 Feb 11:00 25 Feb 19:00
    C4 LONG OFF 25 Feb 11:30 25 Feb 18:00
    C3 LONG OFF 25 Feb 12:00 25 Feb 20:00
    C2 LONG OFF 27 Feb 12:30 27 Feb 22:30
    C1 LONG OFF 27 Feb 13:30 28 Feb 4:30
    C4 LONG OFF 27 Feb 14:00 27 Feb 23:00
    C3 LONG OFF 27 Feb 14:00 28 Feb 4:30
    C2 LONG OFF 01 Mar 22:30 02 Mar 6:30
    C1 LONG OFF 01 Mar 22:30 02 Mar 8:30
    C3 LONG OFF 02 Mar 0:00 02 Mar 10:00
    C4 LONG OFF 02 Mar 0:00 02 Mar 11:00
    C3 LONG OFF 04 Mar 5:00 04 Mar 15:00
    C4 LONG OFF 04 Mar 6:00 04 Mar 16:00
    C2 LONG OFF 04 Mar 7:00 04 Mar 11:30
    C1 LONG OFF 04 Mar 7:00 04 Mar 17:00
    C2 LONG OFF 06 Mar 12:30 06 Mar 18:30
    C2 LONG OFF 08 Mar 15:00 08 Mar 23:30
    C2 SHORT OFF 11 Mar 3:10 11 Mar 3:40



    Last updated by  Mike Hapgood ( mike.hapgood@stfc.ac.uk), 31 March 2013

     
     
     

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