DATA_SET_DESCRIPTION |
Data Set Overview
=================
All level zero accelerometer data are packaged by periapsis number
for each aerobraking orbit. Each orbit is identified by a folder
with name Pyyyy where 'yyyy' is the four digit periapsis number.
Level 0 z-axis accelerometer data are provided every 0.1 seconds
during an interval of time that generally assures that the initial
and final data points are taken at least 200 km above the surface
of Mars. Additional data, required to reduce accelerometer counts
to acceleration on the spacecraft, are provided at lower sampling
rates.
Parameters
==========
Accelerometer counts:Units = counts (1 count = 0.332 mm/s change
in velocity)
Sampling Interval = 0.1 seconds
Quaternions: Units = dimensionless
Sampling Interval = 1 second
Filtered body rates: Units = rad/s
Sampling Interval = 1 second
Thruster on-times: Units = sec (cumulative time thruster has fired)
Sampling Interval = 8 seconds
Orbital elements: Units = various
Sampling Interval = once per orbit
Data
====
For each orbit, level 0 data consist of four arrays in four files
in folder Pyyyy. The array in 'counts.tab' is n-by-11 in size,
where n is the number of seconds of data received during the
aerobraking pass. Column 1 contains the time in UTC and follows
the PDS format YYYY-DDDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ where YYYY = four digit
year, DDD = day of year, HH = hour, MM = minute, and SS.SSS =
seconds. T is a separator for date and time and the Z is the UTC
Z. Columns 2 through 11 contain the 0.1 second accelerometer
counts for the second beginning at the time stamp.
The array in 'ratequat.tab' is n-by-8 in size. Column 1 is the
time corresponding to the filtered rates and quaternions in the
same UTC format as described for the counts above. Columns 2-4
contain the angular rates about the x, y and z axes respectively.
Columns 5-8 contain the quaternions.
The third file, 'thruster.tab', is a k-by-13 array, where k is
within 1 of n/8. The first column is time as described above.
The next 12 columns are the cumulative reading of how long each
thruster has been fired during the mission. Column two corresponds
to thruster number one, column 3 with thruster 2, and so on.
Column 13 corresponds with thruster 12. Thrusters 1-8 produce
moments about the 'x-y' axes by forces along the s/c z-axis and
thereby corrupt the accelerometer measurements. Thrusters 9-12
provide roll about the z-axis and no detectible corruption of
z-acceleration has been found.
The fourth file, 'orbelem.tab', is a 1-by-6 array of osculating
elements at periapsis in the order semi-major axis (km),
eccentricity, inclination (radians), longitude of the ascending
node (radians), argument of periapsis (radians), and universal
time of periapsis (seconds past J2000).
Coordinate System
=================
Spacecraft body coordinate system has the origin at the center of
mass. The z-axis is normal to the main engine nozzle etiz plane
and positive in the direction of the science instrument deck.
Positive x-axis is in the direction of the high gain antenna. See
DOCUMENT/JSR01_04.TIF or [CANCROETAL1998] for graphic.
Acceleration and rates are given in the MGS body system with the
z-axis along the centerline of the bus, y being along the solar
array inner gimbal rotation axis, and positive x on the same side
of the bus as the high gain antenna. The quaternions define the
orientation of the body axes with respect to the IAU Mars Centered
Mars Equatorial at Time of Jan 1, 2000 12:00. Orbital elements
are given relative to the IAU system. The reference geoid used is
a (4,4) representation of the Mars gravitational field. There is a
negligible difference between current Mars gravitational models up
to fourth order and degree. The objective is to determine the
areo-potential altitude to within 100m.
Timing
======
The times in the data files are UTC. For orbit calculations,
ephemeris time was converted to UTC and the spacecraft data were
already in UTC. During the early part of operations it was found
that the time tags on the three fundamental data types -
accelerometer counts, attitude rates, and thruster firing times -
were not synchronized. Information on the telemetry maps for all
these data were not available. Five of the 10 accelerometer
channels came from each of the two onboard computers and special
care was taken to assure that these data were properly ordered in
time. Accelerometer data time tags were taken as the fundamental
reference and all orbital velocities and positions are
interpolated to this time. Between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of
aerobraking, it was found that the accelerometer time tags were
delayed 1.5 seconds on the s/c and subsequently all accelerometer
data were shifted 1.5 seconds relative to UTC. As mentioned
above, attitude rates have a frequency dependent delay in addition
to any basic uncertainty in time tagging. Finally, there is
uncertainty in the proper time tags for thruster firing. To
synchronize the rates and thruster data with the accelerometer
data, numerous firings of the x- and y- thrusters throughout the
mission were studied. Such thruster firings should produce
simultaneous effects in rates and acceleration. By these means it
was found that for the purposes herein, the rate time tags
required shifting by -2 seconds to be in sync with the already
shifted accelerometer data. By studying thruster firings that
occurred on either side of the 8 sec thruster data interval, it
was concluded that the thruster time tag needed to be shifted by
-0.5 seconds.
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CONFIDENCE_LEVEL_NOTE |
Confidence Level Overview
=========================
After the effects of rate filtering are included (see Limitations
below), the confidence level for the rate and quaternion data is
sufficient for reducing the accelerometer data to density at the
noise level of the accelerometer. Accelerometer data would most
likely be corrupted by changes in temperature of the instrument.
The temperature of the accelerometer environment is actively
controlled, and short term (order 10 seconds) variations are
expected to be less than 1/6 count. Variations in accelerometer
bias due to temperature changes over a pass have been less than
0.1 counts. Except for the time of periapsis, errors in remaining
orbital elements are of sufficient accuracy for data interpret-
ation. During phase 1 of aerobraking, Sept. 1997 through March
1998, every orbit was reconstructed using DSN tracking data on
each side of periapsis. This provided errors in the time of
periapsis of less than 1 second. During phase 2, this was not the
case and larger errors may result.
Review
======
All of the data types included in the level 0 product are utilized
by the MGS operations to monitor the health of the spacecraft.
These data are reviewed in near real time to assure MGS
performance.
Data Coverage and Quality
=========================
Data coverage during an aerobraking pass has varied throughout the
mission. Early in the mission, data were received for 500 seconds
on either side of periapsis. Later, the data started between 200
and 250 seconds before periapsis. This change was made to reduce
propulsion usage. Though this change somewhat reduced the
accuracy of determining the accelerometer bias, it had the
advantage of reducing the corruption of the data set with thruster
firings while still inside the detectable atmosphere. The data for
the early orbits of MGS have an eight second sample time. This
does not agree with software devised to archive this data,
therefore there is no plan, at this time, to archive the early
orbit data.
Limitations
===========
The rate and quaternion data are calculated onboard the space-
craft. Raw rate information from the rate gyros are filtered to
remove a potential interaction with a 2 Hz structural vibration
mode. This produces an approximate 2 second delay in the output
rates. Quarternions are obtained by onboard integration of rates,
providing a delay of about 1 second.
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