Active magnetorquing of AO-40 to hold ALON relatively steady and begin to lower ALAT has begun. On 18 May 2003 ALON/ALAT was approximately 329/7. A better determination will be possible now the ALAT has dropped below 15 degs. and the earth enters the camera field of view.
Hopefully passbands will be on soon during the first half of the orbit, if all goes well.
The A-blk message of the day section now includes height, Lon/Lat of the subsatellite point, and ALON/ALAT. All of these values are generated by the IHU-1 software based on its orbital and magnetorquing calculations. ALON/ALAT is also updated from the ground when a new magnetorquing command is issued.
[ANS thanks Stacey, W4SM, for the above information]
Klla: ANS 138