ACIS Focal Plane Temperature

Average ACIS focal plane temperature during science and calibration source observations. The top panel is the full history of FP temperature since January 2000. The bottom panel is the most recent data, with the dotted vertical line indicating the times of spacecraft events that effect focal plane temperature.

Number/Percentage of observations with T > -119.2 C

Time PeriodScience ObservationsECS Measurements
2007.27-2008.27Year before DH heater shutoff334/904 (37%)106/232 (46%)
2008.27-2009.34After DH heater shutoff16/848 (2%)33/219 (15%)
2009.34-2009.58Backoff time reduced to 5 hrs17/192 (9%)28/67 (42%)
2009.58-2009.62Constrained to tail-sun attitudes13/27 (48%)5/11 (45%)
2009.62-2009.68SIM FA6 heater turned off4/44 (9%)4/14 (29%)
2009.68-Tail-sun constraints removed2/106 (2%)4/33 (12%)

Updated monthly.

The data used to make these plots can be found here

Science Observations

Science Observations

Calibration Source Observations

Calibration Observations

Change history:
Last update October 26, 2009
Web page by Catherine E. Grant ( cgrant@space.mit.edu )
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology