[Spice_announce] Reminder: a new leap second takes effect on July 1

[Acton, Charles H (343N)]

The leap second announced by the International Earth Rotation Service this past January will take effect as of July 01, 2012. If you are using SPICE-based software that makes use of leap seconds, meaning your code uses a SPICE leap seconds kernel (LSK) with name style "naifxxxx.tls" or "naifxxxx.tls.pc", you must begin using the latest LSK no later than July 01 if you want time conversions involving leap seconds that occur for epochs on or after July 01 to be accurate.

The LSK that incorporates this July 01, 2012 leap second is located on the NAIF server at this location:

  ftp://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/lsk/
         or
  http://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/lsk/

The file named "naif0010.tls" is the one to use for Unix, Linux and Macintosh systems.
The file named "naif0010.tls.pc" is the one to use for Windows systems.

This LSK has been deployed by NAIF or others to many flight project file systems, but if you are in doubt about your system or personal computer, it's best to check.

The LSK named naif0010 should be used instead of any earlier version (e.g. naif0009, naif0008, etc.).  In principle you can make the substitution any time--no need to wait until the end of June.  But note: if your software is doing time conversions for epochs occurring after July 01—the effective date of the new leap second—and you need those conversions to be consistent with time conversions being done by other software, make sure both software systems switch to the new LSK at the same time.

(The availability of this new LSK was announced by NAIF in January, so you or your agent may have already dealt with it. We're just trying to be cautious since the time between that announcement and July 01, when it takes effect, has been substantial; maybe some people forgot to make the change back in January.)

--The NAIF Team

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