Mars Oddysey Testing

The  tests with Mars is scheduled for July  2,  one transmission on July 2, starting at 11:09 UTC and running for up to 16 minutes, and one  transmission on July 3, starting at 14:37 UTC also running for up to 16  minutes. These tests will be carrier only, so it can only interfere if  the DCPR channel filter on the GOES satellite allows enough energy  through to rob some of the downlink power from the desired signals.

The tests for two days near the end of August are now being  revised, and may change yet again as a result of our pre-test. However,  the good look angles to Mars occur earlier in the day near the end of
August compared to the start of July, so I think it highly likely  everything will be over with before 15:00 UTC.

These tests will be at 401.585625 MHz, but have the potential to bleed into the DCS (both POES and GOES) bandwidths.

This is the worst case analysis: It is possible that the Mars tests  could completely block all GOES DCPR messages for the full duration of  some of their test transmissions, up to 45 minutes, and that the
interference could occur on both GOES East and GOES West, but at  different times. NESDIS is involved in the planning, and is aware of  the potential interference.

Posted on June 24, 2003