VSOG to Tracking Stations
What: The Space Radio Telescope (SRT) schedule file, or SRS file, has more precise time stamps than long-term schedules, and also designates which GTS will be used when. A one-second precision is used for GTS activities, though the accuracy is dependent on the orbit used. It will contain a list of activities describing the tracking support for one week of the mission from Monday through Sunday UTC, continuing to the end of any tracking pass that starts before the end of Sunday UTC.
The SRS file also serves as the antenna pointing schedule file, as it describes the planned orientation of the spacecraft (and solar panels) as a function of time. The JPL MMNAV team will take detailed solar-pressure effects into consideration in generating the orbit predictions.
How: The file format is described in ``SVLBI Space Radio Telescope Schedule File''. The files are named YYMMDD.srs[.v], where the date corresponds to the Monday of the week for which the file is valid.
When: SRS files are generated each week for the following weeks - it is envisaged that each week SRS files will be generated for the following 4 weeks. The schedule for the following week is, unless some contingency arises (see §10.5), the final version; the schedule for 4 weeks in advance is preliminary, but allows mission elements to determine their staffing requirements, etc. The SRS files will be made available by Tuesday at 1900 UTC.
Where: The files are placed in the sub-directory vsop/vsopoper/schedule/srtsched on the VSOG FTP site (see §10.6).