FIREBall-2 2023: flight communications performance

Greyson Davis, Keri Hoadley, Jared Termini, Fernando Cruz Aguirre, Philippe Balard, Nicolas Bray, Ignacio Cevallos-Aleman, Erika Hamden, Gillian Kyne, Zeren Lin, D. Christopher Martin, Drew Miles, Bruno Millard, Shouleh Nikzad, Vincent Picouet, David Schiminovich, Meghna Sitaram, David Valls-Gabaud

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The balloon-borne UV telescope Faint Intergalactic Red-shifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2) was launched from Fort Sumner, NM on September 25, 2023, for its second attempted flight. The flight was unexpectedly terminated at 10 hours due to a mechanical issue, and no science data was obtained; however, this short flight provided an excellent opportunity to test the in-flight communications system. Testing the communication system pre-flight was challenging, and an accurate simulation of signal reception and communication errors expected during flight was not possible. From launch to landing, only a single packet was dropped. Had the flight continued for the expected duration, the success up to early termination gives confidence that the communications systems would have continued to meet our expectations. While this test was highly successful, some areas for improvement were identified and will be addressed before FIREBall-2's next flight.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSpace Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024
Subtitle of host publicationUltraviolet to Gamma Ray
EditorsJan-Willem A. den Herder, Shouleh Nikzad, Kazuhiro Nakazawa
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510675094
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024
EventSpace Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray - Yokohama, Japan
Duration: Jun 16 2024Jun 21 2024

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume13093
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

ConferenceSpace Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityYokohama
Period6/16/246/21/24

Keywords

  • commanding
  • data
  • decoding
  • downlink
  • encoding
  • telecommunications
  • telemetry
  • uplink

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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