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On 22 May 2008, JDay 143 at approximately 11:55a.m (eastern time) a NOAA-18 SBUV Motor Current began to rise anomalously. At that time the spacecraft was out of contact with the ground and in the South Atlantic Anomaly at approximately 32 degrees South and 28 degrees West. The motor temperature quickly began to follow the current. By the time of the next spacecraft contact the motor current and temperature were out of limits. We have not seen abnormal behavior in other parts of the instrument, except a slight increase in the grating drive temperature which may be due to heat leaked from the motor. SOCC engineers are investigating. This appears to be a serious anomaly based on the telemetry we are seeing at SOCC. The motor impacted is needed for proper calibration of SBUV. Products using NOAA-18 SBUV data may be impacted.
Renee Smith *Contact Point for Questions: ESPC Operations OCL (Operations Crew Leader), 301-817-3880 *
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