Chandra Users’ Committee CXC Manager’s Status Report For the period April 09 – October 09 Edward Mattison CXC Deputy Manager 29 October 2009

CXC Status Report/CUCPage 2 Topics Program Level Status –Program Management –Spacecraft –Science Instruments and Calibration –Mission Planning –OCC –Data Processing –CXCDS –Chandra Director’s Office –Education and Public Outreach Mission Metrics Chandra Grant Awards

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 3 Top Level Summary Spacecraft and instruments are performing superbly The CXC contract extension for up to 10 additional years and $573M is expected to be signed in mid- November

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 4 Program Level Status – Program Management Budget –The CXC’s budget is on track with the FY09 Operating Plan CXC contract extension –SAO submitted (in July) the requested proposal to extend the CXC contract for up to 10 years –We are currently working with MSFC and subcontractors to resolve audit questions and to deal with NGST rate changes that resulted from NGST’s corporate reorganization –Expect signed contract extension in mid-November

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 5 Program Level Status – Program Management Facilities –SAO and NGST studied the feasibility of moving the OCC from Kendall Square to Cambridge Discovery Park, to save ~$1M/yr –Produced detailed plan and schedule –After considering benefits vs. risk, MSFC declined to approved the move Reviews and Conferences –Peer Review (6/22/09) –Supernova Remnant workshop (7/8/09) –Quarterly review (9/2/09) –Calibration review (9/21/09) –Chandra’s First Decade of Discovery (9/22-25/09) –Einstein Fellows Symposium (10/27/09)

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 6 Program Level Status – CXC Organization

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 7 Program Level Status – Operations Spacecraft –Continues to operate extremely well overall –Nominal passages through summer eclipse season Science Instruments –Instruments are operating extremely well

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 8 Program Level Status – Operations Anomalies –Momentum Unloading Propulsion System (MUPS) pressure drop Propellant pressure reading decreased abruptly 7/19 Cause: Pressure transducer operates incorrectly Impact: Benign; Demonstrated CXC’s skill in handling anomaly situation –Grating status switch operates unexpectedly HETG move flag set to ‘failed’ 7/7/09 (grating move was okay) Cause: Previously-failed microswitch unexpectedly came to life Impact: Benign; Updated software to ignore switch state –Incorrect command sequence uploaded Cause: Operator error 8/28 Impact: Benign (but could have led to safing action if not identified); Updated procedures to prevent recurrence

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 9 Program Level Status – Operations Mission Planning: Load-interrupting TOOs –No load-interrupting TOOs during this period –Several loads were replanned to respond to anomalous conditions Data Processing –Automatic processing is current; mean time from end of observation to delivery to user remains at about one day

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 10 Program Level Status – Operations CXC Data System Releases VersionDateMain contents DS /24CfP11 proposal review support DS 8.07/14Migrate operations to Solaris 10 DS 8.19/16Migrate CDO, mission planning operations to Linux CIAO /20Port to Solaris 10; release Level 3 tools CAT /21CSCview, novice user fixes, VO cone search GoogleEarth1.0 6/26Web interface to CSC field of view & images CAT /18VO cone search verbosity fix CSC = Chandra Source Catalog VO = Virtual Observatory

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 11 Program Level Status – Operations Calibration Database (CalDB) Releases –CalDB /7ACIS T-gain epoch 37 –CalDB /17ACIS T-gain epoch 38 GO and Fellows Program, CXC Director’s Office –GO peer review 6/22; 668 proposals submitted, 207 approved –Einstein Fellows call for proposal posted; proposals due 11/5 –Grant issuance is current; average time to award < 3 weeks Education and Public Outreach –CXC’s “Beautiful Universe” HD podcast series won the Communicator Award of Excellence, the professional peer-judged award by the same group that oversees the Webbys –“From Earth to the Universe, ” the International Year of Astronomy exhibit developed by the CXC’s EPO group, has been exhibited in over 200 locations in 65 countries, including close to 40 installations in a variety of settings in the US. See

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 12 Mission Metrics MUPS Fuel Usage

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 13 Mission Metrics Thruster Warm Starts

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 14 Mission Metrics Observing Efficiency

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 15 Data Delivery Effectiveness As of middle of following month As of 10/8/09 MonthNumber of Obs Days to Data DeliveryNumber Deliv Number Outstanding Number Deliv Number Outstanding Comments MinAvgMax Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

29 October 2009CXC Status Report/CUCPage 16 Grant Award Effectiveness Month of Data Delivery Federal Grants (1,3) SAO Grants (2) As of middle of following month As of 10/8/09 Non-Federal Grants (3) No. Grants Awarded No. Outstanding Avg days to award (4) No. Grants Awarded No. Outstanding Outstanding Awards Proposal no, Comments Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep (1)(1) Grants awarded to scientists at Federal institutions as interagency transfers through MSFC. (2)(2) Grants awarded to scientists at non-Federal institutions through SAO Contracts and Grants Department. (3)(3) Number of grants eligible for award, for which data were delivered to the observer in the month. (4)(4) Average days from data delivery to grant award to observer.