DSCS-III shutdown new experience for 3rd Space Operations Squadron(Forwarded)

Air Force Space Command News Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2005

Story ID 06-191

DSCS-III shutdown new experience for 3rd SOPS
Staff Sgt. Don Branum, 50th Space Wing Public Affairs

SCHRIEVER AFB, Colo. -- In space, no one can hear you turn off a
satellite.

The 3rd Space Operations Squadron satellite operators and engineers here
"turned off the lights" on Defense Satellite Communications System
Satellite A-2, the first satellite of its kind to be completely
deactivated.

Space systems operators boosted the satellite out of geosynchronous orbit
when its fuel tanks were almost empty.

Once boosted to super-synchronous orbits, satellites may be used as test
platforms for software upgrades or shut down. For Satellite A-2, shutdown
was the only option, said Lt. Col. Keith Hinson, 3rd SOPS commander.

DSCS engineers prepared by running simulations and verifying commands that
would be sent to the satellite. However, some variables differed between
the simulator and the real thing.

Each satellite handles a bit differently, said Colonel Hinson. "No two
satellites are the same. You can't just plug it into a diagnostic and say,
'This is how we expect it to work.'"

The shutdown process started at about 4 a.m. as operators depleted the
satellite's residual fuel. Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo.,
worked with 3rd SOPS to get a final orbit projection. Engineers also
collaborated with the 22nd SOPS to get Air Force Satellite Control Network
range time for the shutdown.

The process hit a snag around 8:45 a.m. Engineers attempted to force the
satellite into an inert survival mode, however, the system aboard the
satellite that normally triggers survival mode failed to activate. The
team took the setback in stride and searched for a possible error in their
process while they waited for the backup failsafe to kick in. "It's a dead
satellite, but we'd like it to be perfect," said Colonel Hinson. The
backup kicked in 80 minutes later, completing the satellite's shutdown.

"The satellite's in a completely safe configuration," said Captain Becker,
DSCS engineering chief. "All in all, it was a complete success."

Before its shutdown, A-2 functioned as part of the DSCS constellation for
16 years -- six years beyond its design life. Aging satellites are no
longer useful once they run out of fuel to keep them pointed at the
earth's surface, said Colonel Hinson. However, upgrades in software
control systems and new techniques for maneuvering satellites have allowed
them to conserve fuel and live longer.

"These guys are incredible," he said. "There's no one else who can do
this."

The engineers and operators will have plenty of opportunity to do it again
in the future. More satellite shutdowns scheduled in the months to come.
As the military moves toward a new generation of communications systems,
other DSCS-III satellites will come to rest alongside Satellite A-2 in the
silence of space.