LUNASCAN  MISSION REPORT:   Session # 20150825 – 07 - 89

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1. QUALCOM SYNOPSIS:

Mission 89 was successful with good WWV. Target Acquisition at 19:44:04 Q.
EOM at 20:48:05 Q
Mission duration: 1h04m01 sec.

2. EPHEMERIS: DE421

Observatory: +37°34' +87°32' Tz:  0h00m

Date: 2015-08-25 19:40:02

Date (TT): 2015-08-25 19:41:11

(J2000) Right Ascension: 18h38m32.71s

(J2000) Declination: -18°30'50.8"

(Date) Right Ascension: 18h39m28.64s

(Date) Declination: -18°29'46.6"

Distance: 378549Km

Apparent diameter: 31.57'

Colongitude: 43.5°

Phase: 53.7°

Lunation: 11.20 days

Illumination: 79.6%

Sub-solar latitude: -0.8°

Libration in Latitude: -06°09'

Libration in Longitude: -06°28'

Position angle: -4.0°

Azimuth +99°57'

Altitude -17°19'

Rise: 21h13m

Transit:   1h31m

Set:   6h43m

Rise azimuth: +112°56'

Transit Altitude: +34°

Set azimuth: +246°42'

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3. DETAILED ANALYSIS:

Mission 89 was the 7th mission of twelve in 2015, conducted on August 25th. It was fairly successful with good WWV.
Target Acquisition at 19:44:04 Q.

EOM at 20:48:05 Q

Mission duration: 1h04m01 sec.

Lunar Range: 378,549 Km

Apparent diameter: 31.57'

Colongitude: 43.5°

Phase: 53.7°

Lunation: 11.20 days

Illumination: 79.6%

QUAD

19:39:59 Q, good WWV

19:44:04 Q, Cam 4/SSI AOT

20:48:05 Q, EOM

QUAD SELECT

19:40:04 Q-sel w/good WWV

CABCAM

Good images with good WWV

SSI CAM

Time fix at 00:11::36 elapsed = 00h53m00s CUT

Two frame grabs taken. One of Copernicus and the other of Tycho region.

Picture a little dark with lots of contrast artifacts that come and go as contrast at terminator increases. Since all twelve missions have been conducted in 2015, we'll make an attempt to increase the light by changing the f-rings. If that doesn't help we'll contact Celestron and see if there's anything we can do. It is possible that this situation may have improved on missions 90 thru 94.

Possible cause of light problem and possible answer to contrast artifacts:

We had been using an f-ring for years with great success, this one made from a piece of 1/4" foam. Unfortunately, a record or note was not taken when wind blew the ring off the glass in front of the corrector plate. A heavier, cardboard f-ring was later constructed to replace it. Since some light was able to pass through the original foam ring it is possible that the reduction in light with the new one may have been the cause of the new problem. Contrast artifacts had been seen before, but they were much different. In any case, the main goal in 2016 will be to gain complete control of the imaging.

No other anomalies were observed.

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4. EQUIPMENT MODE LEVEL

RECORDERS
VHS1 on LIMA 2 (Quad)
VHS2 on LIMA 2 (VMA/LPI Cam on Quad Cam 3 position)
VHS3 on LIMA 2 (CabCam, color, Quad Camera 2 position)

VHS 4 on LIMA 2 Skycam (B Cam on Cam position toggle)

DVR1 on LIMA 2 (Q Sel)
DVR2 on LIMA 1 [default] (SSI Camera, Quad Cam 4 position)

QUAD CAMERA POSITIONS:
All camera outputs to Quad SAMSUNG SCQ-041P
Camera 1   B-Cam - (SC-NVA5), wide angle & A-Cam (SC-NVA5) 9x50 #51611 Celestron finder w/crosshairs)
                    Y=video   R=power
Camera 2    CabCam  cam 1 (color, SC-NVA5 to Quad), cam 2 (Sony CL-34S-2T, night vision, security, to Lab via RG59)      
Camera 3    VMA graphics/LPI not used
Camera 4:   SSI/C-8. .

COMPUTERS:
PC1 System
Dell  Intel Pentium 4 processor
2 Gigahertz, 256 meg RAM
C Drive, 40 GB
D Drive, 111 GB
Digital to Analog Converter 2: TEP-100 Elite Pro II 
Aperture video recorder DVR2
No graphics used
Feeding Quad Cam Position 4                                           

PC2 System

HP dc5000MT Pentium 4
2.8 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Digital to Analog Converter 1; TEP-100 Elite Pro II

VIRTUAL MOON ATLAS graphics left
Feeding Quad Cam Position 3

CAMERAS:
Camera 1
Celestron Neximage Solar System Imager
SSI or A camera = 2032/5=400x
No Barlow or focal reducer used
delivers simrange of 600 mi and FOV of 400 miles
CCD sensor (Charge Coupled Device)
Type HAD (1/4")
OPTICS, prime focus 5 mm
Active area 3.6mm x 2.7 (4.5 mm diagonal)
Pixel size 5.6 micron, square
VGA resolution (640x480) color ¼” CCD chip
Maximum usable framerate @ 640x480
(uncompressed): 30 fps
#11 yellow written filter
Compression 1420
?-Bit on-chip A/D converter
3 MP
Sensitivity <1 lux
ACOMP Computer

Camera 2
LPI (NOT UTILIZED THIS MISSION)
LPI or B camera = 2032/6=340x
CMOS sensor by Hynix ~310kPix, (Bayer matrix), Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Semiconductor Inc.
Meade Lunar Planetary Imager
Type HV7131E1 (1/3")
OPTICS, prime focus. 6 mm.
Active area 5.18x3.90 mm (6.5 mm diagonal)
Pixel size 8.0 micron, square
VGA resolution (640x480) color
Max usable framerate @ 640x480
(uncompressed): 36 fps
Compression 1420
8-Bit on-chip A/D converter
1.3 MP
Sensitivity <?lux
BCOMP Computer
Compaq Presario sr1218nx XP Home
2.67 GHZ processor, 760 mb RAM,
C Drive 80 GB hard drive

OPTICAL TUBE:
Celestron C-8 SCT 8” optical tube
2032 mm f/l
F10
Resolution at lunar range = 0.68 /
.81086 mi or 4281.36469 feet
(30.19' X 60 = 1811.4" /.68' resol = factor of 2663.82353
2160 miles / 2663.82353 = .81086 mi resolution)0.621 mi/km
1 m = 3.28 ‘

CONFIG:
(X)  SSI in scope back            
(   ) Diagonal and (   )  binoc viewer. Extended hand control DOB Driver II