NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
VIIRS On-Orbit Optical Anomaly - Investigation, Analysis, Root Cause Determination and Lessons LearnedA gradual, but persistent, decrease in the optical throughput was detected during the early commissioning phase for the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Near Infrared (NIR) bands. Its initial rate and unknown cause were coincidently coupled with a decrease in sensitivity in the same spectral wavelength of the Solar Diffuser Stability Monitor (SDSM) raising concerns about contamination or the possibility of a system-level satellite problem. An anomaly team was formed to investigate and provide recommendations before commissioning could resume. With few hard facts in hand, there was much speculation about possible causes and consequences of the degradation. Two different causes were determined as will be explained in this paper. This paper will describe the build and test history of VIIRS, why there were no indicators, even with hindsight, of an on-orbit problem, the appearance of the on-orbit anomaly, the initial work attempting to understand and determine the cause, the discovery of the root cause and what Test-As-You-Fly (TAYF) activities, can be done in the future to greatly reduce the likelihood of similar optical anomalies. These TAYF activities are captured in the lessons learned section of this paper.
Document ID
20120015048
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Iona, Glenn (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Butler, James (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Guenther, Bruce (Stellar Solutions, Inc. United States)
Graziani, Larissa (SGT, Inc. Greenbelt , MD, United States)
Johnson, Eric (Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems United States)
Kennedy, Brian (Kennedy Consulting, Inc. United States)
Kent, Criag (Stellar Solutions, Inc. United States)
Lambeck, Robert (MEI Technologies, Inc. United States)
Waluschka, Eugne (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Xiong, Xiaoxiong (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2013
Publication Date
August 12, 2012
Subject Category
Optics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.CP.7013.2012
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Optics and Phontonics Conference
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: August 12, 2012
End Date: August 16, 2012
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available