NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Technical Memorandum 33-426 Volume XII Tracking and Data System Support for the Pioneer Project Pioneers 6-9. Extended Missions: July 1, 1972 -July 1, 1973 R. B. Miller NASA-CR-137 9 8 2) TRACKING AND DATA SYSTEM SUPPORT FOR THE PIONEER PROJECT PIONEERS 6-9, EXTENDED RISSIONs: 1 JU78 1972 - 187J HC1973 (Jet Propulsion LabH $12.50 Oclas I| CSCL 22D G3/31 33476 BR-- JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA March 1, 1974 TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE 1. Report No. 33-426 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. Volume XII 1 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date March i, 1974 March 1, 197 Tracking and Data System Support for the Code Pioneer Project Pioneers 6-9 Extended Missions: 6. Performing Organization 1 July 1972 to 1 July 1973 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. R. B. Miller 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. JET PROPULSION LABORATORY California Institute of Technology 11. Contract or Grant No. 4800 Oak Grove Drive NAS 7-100 Pasadena, California 91103 13. Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, D.C. 20546 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract The Tracking and Data System supported the deep space phases of the Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9 missions, with two spacecraft in an inward trajectory and two spacecraft in an outward trajectory from the earth in heliocentric orbits. During the period of this report, scientific instruments aboard each of the spacecraft continued to register informa- tion relative to interplanetary particles and fields, and radio metric data generated by the network continued to contribute to knowledge of the celestial mechanics of the solar system. In addition to network support activity detail, network performance and special support activities are covered. 17. Key Words (Selected by Author(s)) 18. Distribution Statement - Unlimited Pioneer Project Unclassified Tracking and Data Acquisition 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified HOW TO FILL OUT THE TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE Make items 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, and 13 agree with the corresponding information on the report cover. Use all capital letters for title (item 4). Leave items 2, 6, and 14 blank. Complete the remaining items as follows: 3. Recipient's Catalog No. Reserved for use by report recipients. 7. Author(s). Include corresponding information from the report cover. In addition, list the affiliation of an author if it differs from that of the performing organization. 8. Performing Organization Report No. Insert if performing organization wishes to assign this number. 10. Work Unit No. Use the agency-wide code (for example, 923-50-10-06-72), which uniquely identifies the work unit under which the work was authorized. Non-NASA performing organizations will leave this blank. 11. Insert the number of the contract or grant under which the report was prepared. 15. Supplementary Notes. Enter information not included elsewhere but useful, such as: Prepared in cooperation with... Translation of (or by)... Presented at conference of... To be published in... 16. Abstract. Include a brief (not to exceed 200 words) factual summary of the most significant information contained in the report. If possible, the abstract of a classified report should be unclassified. If the report contains a significant bibliography or literature survey, mention it here. 17. Key Words. Insert terms or short phrases selected by the author that identify the principal subjects covered in the report, and that are sufficiently specific and precise to be used for cataloging. 18. Distribution Statement. Enter one of the authorized statements used to denote releasability to fhe public or a limitation on dissemination for reasons other than security of defense information. Authorized statements are "Unclassified-Unlimited, " "U. S. Government and Contractors'only, " "U. S. Government Agencies only, " and "NASA and NASA Contractors only. 19. Security Classification (of report). NOTE: Reports carrying a security classification will require additional markings giving security and down- grading information as specified by the Security Requirements Checklist and the DoD Industrial Security Manual (DoD 5220. 22-M). 20. Security Classification (of this page). NOTE: Because this page may be used in preparing announcements, bibliographies, and data banks, it should be unclassified if possible. If a classification is required, indicate sepa- rately the classification of the title and the abstract by following these items with either "(U)" for unclassified, or "(C)" or "(S)" as applicable for classified items. 21. No. of Pages. Insert the number of pages. 22. Price. Insert the price set by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information or the Government Printing Office, if known. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Technical Memorandum 33-426 Volume XII Tracking and Data System Support for the Pioneer Project Pioneers 6-9. Extended Missions: July 1, 1972-July 1, 1973 R. B. Miller JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA March 1, 1974 Prepared Under Contract No. NAS 7-100 National Aeronautics and Space Administration PREFACE This report describes support of the Pioneer missions completed under the direction of the Tracking and Data System Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with N. A. Renzetti as Tracking and Data System Manager for the Pioneer Project. Pioneer Project management, spacecraft systems development, and mission analysis and operations management are located at the Ames Research Center. This report documents a year of extended mission support of Pioneers 6, 7, 8, and 9. Previous volumes of this series covered earlier phases of the missions. Succeeding annual reports will cover the missions until there is no further return of meaningful engineering and scientific data. PR1ECEDING PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED JPL Technical Memorandum 33-426, Vol. XII ACKNOWLEDGMENT This report was compiled by W. R. Barton with the assistance of R. Ryan. Tabular data was extracted from internal monthly reports pub- lished by the network operations organization under D. L. Gordon. The author acknowledges the support of the operations staff of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory' s Deep Space Network. In addition, material was abstracted from Ames Research Center reports. iv JPL Technical Memorandum 33-426, Vol. XII CONTENTS I. Pioneer Project History and Objectives . .................. 1 A. First-Generation Missions ................... .. 1 B. Second-Generation Missions ................... .... 1 1. Status of m issions ................... ........ 1 2. Performance summary ................... ..... 2 3. Advancement of space science . .................. 2 C. Third-Generation Missions ................... ..... 2 II. Tracking and Data System ................... ......... 3 A. TDS Organization ............................... 3 B. DSN Facilities ................................. 3 C. Station Implementation . .................. ....... 3 1. Tidbinbilla Deep Space Communications Complex . ................................ 3 2. Implementation activities ................... ... 4 3. DSS 44 (Honeysuckle Creek) . .................. 4 4. Station support of Pioneer Project . ............... 4 5. Pioneer design concepts ................... .... 5 III. Scientific Events and Measurements ................... .. 7 A. Special Coverage . .................. ......... 7 B. Experim ents . .................. ............... 7 1. Celestial mechanics investigation (JPL) ............. 7 2. Cosmic ray telescope (University of Chicago) .. .... 7 3. Cosmic ray anistropy detector (Southwest Center for Advanced Studies) ............... ...... 7 4. Plasma cup detector (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) . .............. .... .... 7 5. Quadrispherical plasma analyses (Ames Research Center) ................... ........ 7 6. Magnetometer (Goddard Space Flight Center) . ........ 8 7. Radio propagation (Stanford University) . ............ 8 8. Specific objectives . .................. ........ 8 JPL Technical Memorandum 33-426, Vol. XII CD G PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED v PRECEDING PG LN O I1 CONTENTS (contd) IV. Pioneer 6-9 Support Activity: July 1, 1972 - July 1, 1973 . 9 A. General ... ...... ....... ....... .. ........ ... 9 1. Support particulars . ..... .... 9 2. Tracking activity and telecommunications . 9 3. Tracking priorities . 9 4. Engineering tracks .. .... ......... ............ 9 5. Non-GOE program ........................... 9 B. Special Event Support .. .......... ...... .... 10 C. Pioneer 6 Support . 10 1. Spacecraft position . .. .. .. ......... 10 2. Spacecraft status ..... .......... .... ... ...... 10 3. DSN support and performance . .... ....... ..... 10 4. Engineering operations . .. 10 D. Pioneer 7 Support ............. ....... ........... 10 1. Spacecraft position .......................... 10 2. Spacecraft status .... ................ ........ 11 3. DSN support and performance . .. 11 E. Pioneer 8 Support . .... ... ... 11 1. Spacecraft position ........................... .11 2. Spacecraft status .... ... ....... ..... ...... ... 11 3. DSN support and performance ... 11 F. Pioneer 9 Support .. ....... ... ... ... 12 1. Spacecraft position .. .... .. ........ 12 2. DSN support and performance . 12 3. Engineering