Q&A STE-QUEST
These pages list answers to questions received in response to the Announcement of Opportunity (AO), released on 24 September 2012, for the provision of scientific payload including SGS elements for the four M3 candidate missions: EChO, LOFT, MarcoPolo-R and STE-QUEST.
Below are the questions that apply specifically to STE-QUEST. The questions of general relevance that apply to all four M3 candidate missions and the additional questions specific to the other three candidate missions can be accessed through the following links, or from the right hand menu.
| Q&A EChO | Q&A LOFT | Q&A MarcoPolo-R | |
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| Q: |
The EID-A gives the following requirement on the volume occupied by the instrument: "EIDA-R-0620 The PI shall ensure the instrument design fits within a cylinder of 1150mm diameter and 1000 mm height. (TBC)" Is this understood to be the volume per instrument, or the total volume available to house the two instruments? |
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| A: | This volume is the allocation per instrument. Irrespective of the actual shape and the number of separate units of the instrument, it shall fit within this TBC volume. | ||
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| Q: | Is a binding commitment required for the provision of the high precision clocks at the ground terminals when considering that the real need is in a few years' time? | ||
| A: | The response to the AO should aim to produce a picture as consolidated as possible in order to minimise the residual programmatic risks. Indication of how the consortium would organize and run the ground terminal activities is required. Detailed agreements can be further consolidated during phase A. | ||
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| Q: | Who has the responsibility for running and maintenance costs of the ground terminals? | ||
| A: | Running costs of the infrastructure required by the remote terminals are for the Consortia to cover. The maintenance cost of HW items procured by ESA may become part of the procurement contract. | ||
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| Q: | Two data analysis centres are mentioned in the AO: if an analysis centre was located at the SOC, would the associated cost be supported by ESA? | ||
| A: | ESA would consider to support a second data analysis centre (then located at the SOC) only in case the MS could not fund both data centres. Actual contribution would depend on the tasks distribution. | ||