Raw
data from the satellite are transmitted from the spacecraft to the
Mission Operations Center at Space Sciences Lab on the University of
California, Berkeley campus. The data are stored
on-board in solid-state memory which does not rely on moving parts and is
therefore reliable in the harsh and rapidly changing temperatures of orbit
in space. Data are downloaded during ten minute
"passes" during which RHESSI's orbit carries it directly above
the antenna pictured above. These passes also provide flight
operators with a chance to uplink commands to the spacecraft.
Once
data are received by the antenna, they are transmitted along fiber-optic
cables to Mission Operations where the data are unpacked from raw form
and cut onto CD-ROMs and distributed to co-investigators for research. RHESSI
data are also archived and posted on the world-wide web for other researchers
in the scientific community and for the general public.
