ACIS Instrument Support - Monthly Progress Report for June 2011

1.  ACIS Characterization

1.3 Monitor scientific on-orbit performance of ACIS

  ...  Continued monitoring of ACIS CTI, gain, trailing pixel
  pulseheight, detector efficiency, corner pixel distribution,
  spectral line centroid and width, and focal plane temperature.
  Updated monitoring web pages.
  (http://space.mit.edu/~cgrant/monitor.html)

  ...  Continued work on a paper combining CTI, FWHM and background
  monitoring results from ACIS and Suzaku.  Preparing poster for
  upcoming Suzaku meeting and started draft of A&A(?) paper.


2.  Engineering

2.1 Instrument hardware engineering performance

  ...  Continue to monitor long term ACIS instrument performance.  All
  ACIS engineering parameters continue to operate within predicted
  limits.

  ...  Continued work on the ACIS Engineering Unit.  Moved the EU into
  a more secure, semi-clean space with protection against future water
  leaks. Wrote a formal risk analysis for the EU and its peripherals

  ...  Ran a series of coverage test on the run-dat5.pl script which
  would be used to test new SI modes in the absence of the EU.

2.2 Flight software maintenance

2.3 Instrument science performance

  ...  Parameter blocks to test potential new values for CCD video
  offsets were intended to be run in June but were in the load
  interrupted by a solar storm.  Rescheduled for early July. The
  results of the tests will inform future global changes to prevent
  bias-uncorrected pulseheights from going below zero at higher
  detector temperatures.

  ...  Discussed whether the HRC anti-co should be required to be on
  during post-radiation-shutdown ECS observations.  Recommended that
  it should, but acknowledged some inconsistency in the treatment of
  regular perigee passage ECS observations and these longer
  post-shutdown ECS observations.

  ...  Continued investigation into whether ACIS can act as it's own
  radiation monitor, prompted by action from the thermal working group
  which is concerned about the continued degradation of EPHIN.
  Reviewed new, hopefully final, version of patch.  Applied algorithm
  to ACIS data at the time of the June 7 solar storm shutdown.  ACIS
  would not have triggered.

  ... Participated in radiation working group telecon.  Presented
  plots of ACIS CTI history, specifically looking for changes due to
  the reduction in perigee backoff times.  None seen.

  ...  Automated the systematic detection of bias map anomalies.

  ...  Continued daily quick-look processing of ACIS telemetry and
  maintained Web interface to ACIS real-time data.

  ...  Continued to publish the "annotated DOT" timeline reports.


3.  CXC Support

3.1 Provide user support

  ...  Updated ACIS memo listing calibration ObsIDs and observation
  characteristics (ACIS Memo #165).

3.2 Provide data analysis support

  ...  Reviewed CXC SDS spec on how the pipeline software should
  identify and handle anomalous values of DELTOCLK

  ...  Participated in CXC Cal/Ops modeling discussion group.
  Discussed CC mode calibration and ACIS contamination.

  ...  Answered CXC Cal questions I0/I2 gain anomalies.

  ...  Continued compiling statistics on ACIS subarray usage.  Most
  commonly used configurations will be used in future tests to
  determine whether the current CTI correction is adequate for
  subarray modes.

  ...  Continued to maintain ACIS calibration database of ground and
  flight data products.


4.  OCC Support

4.1 Use of MIT/ACIS EGSE at OCC

  ...  Continued support and maintenance of ACIS EGSE software and
  hardware at the OCC.



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