STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2026-02-17 (Week 8) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * Ahead is operating nominally. PLASTIC is in operational mode, but with a moderately higher than normal background rate. * Four years after the initial loss of communications anomaly with the Behind observatory, NASA has directed to cease periodic recovery operations with the last support on October 17, 2018. DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS ------------------------------------- Week 7 (Feb 9-15) * On day 041 (Feb 10), during the DSS-36 support, the antenna was declared red, due to a hardware problem. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 2.2 hours of real-time telemetry, commanding, tracking, and SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the subsequent DSS-56 track and recovered all the affected data. See DR #C119032 for more information. * On day 042 (Feb 11), during the DSS-35 support, the beginning of track was delayed three minutes until 15:43 UT, due to operator error. This anomaly resulted in the loss of three minutes of real-time telemetry, tracking, and SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the support and recovered all the affected data. See DR #G125856 for more information. * On day 042 (Feb 11), the 183rd momentum dump was executed successfully at 17:45 UT, which imparted an estimated delta V of 0.070 m/sec. This was the 102nd momentum dump conducted without gyro use. After thruster operations completed, there was a 0.9 degree of roll angle error. Fine pointing stabilized 2.6 minutes after completion of the momentum dump. * On day 045 (Feb 14), during the DSS-56 support, turbo decoder lock was lost briefly at 08:39 UT, due to weather. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 303 frames of SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the support and recovered all the affected data. See DR #M118867 for more information. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 7.3 Gbits during this week. Week 8 (Feb 16-22) * Ahead has fourteen passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * During the DSS-24 track this morning the antenna was declared red due to high winds. Alex was able to add a DSS-54 support to the schedule this morning in order to avoid data loss. Further details will be provided at next week's meeting. * There is a DSN network maintenance event scheduled from Tuesday, February 17th, at 16:00 to February 18th at 00:00. Week 9 (Feb 23 - Mar 1) * Ahead has thirteen passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * There will be a NASCOM maintenance on Tuesday, February 24th, from 18:15-21:00 UT. * The 26th Solar Orbiter remote sensing window begins Saturday, February 28th. Week 10 (Mar 2-8) * Ahead has thirteen passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * An Artemis II launch window is scheduled from March 6-11. The possible March 3rd launch date has been removed. * Beginning Sunday, March 8th, SECCHI will be conducting special observations in conjunction with the Parker Solar Probe perihelion. * Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday, March 8th. Week 11 (Mar 9-15) * Ahead has thirteen passes during the week, eleven at 720 kbps, and two at 480 kbps. Overall coverage is nominal. * There will be an ESA New Norcia pass on Tuesday, March 10, from 18:20-21:25 UT. * There will be an ESA Malargue pass on Wednesday, March 11, from 12:30-13:45 UT. Week 12 (Mar 16-22) * Ahead has eleven passes during the week, all at 720 kbps, and overall coverage is nominal. * There is a DSN network maintenance event scheduled for Tuesday, March 17th, from 21:00-05:00 March 18th. Week 13 (Mar 23-29) * Ahead has thirteen passes during the week, twelve at 720 kbps, and one at 480 kbps. Overall coverage is nominal. * The 184th momentum dump is scheduled for Tuesday, March 24th, at 14:00 UT. * An ESA Malargue track is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th, from 07:45 to 08:50 UT. * The 27th Solar Orbiter remote sensing window begins Sunday, March 29th. Other COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 08: M Feb 16 (047) T Feb 17 (048) W Feb 18 (049) T Feb 19 (050) F Feb 20 (051) S Feb 21 (052) S Feb 22 (053) Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 25, Feb 12-27 - HI1 20-min schedule (nominal COR2), Feb 15-21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 09: M Feb 23 (054) T Feb 24 (055) W Feb 25 (056) T Feb 26 (057) F Feb 27 (058) SolO RSW 25 ends S Feb 28 (059) SolO RSW 26 begins S Mar 01 (060) Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 25, Feb 12-27 * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 26, Feb 28 - Mar 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 10: M Mar 02 (061) T Mar 03 (062) W Mar 04 (063) T Mar 05 (064) F Mar 06 (065) Artemis II launch window begins S Mar 07 (066) S Mar 08 (067) Start of PSP perihelion pass, Daylight Savings Time begins Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 26, Feb 28 - Mar 10 * Artemis II launch window, Mar 6-11 * Parker Solar Probe Perihelion pass, Mar 8-16 - HI1 20min + COR2 15-min pB, Mar 3-12 (tentative, as downlink permits) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 11: M Mar 09 (068) T Mar 10 (069) Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 26 ends W Mar 11 (070) Artemis II launch window ends T Mar 12 (071) F Mar 13 (072) S Mar 14 (073) S Mar 15 (074) Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 26, Feb 28 - Mar 10 * Artemis II launch window, Mar 6-11 * Parker Solar Probe Perihelion pass, Mar 8-16 - HI1 20min + COR2 15-min pB, Mar 3-12 (tentative, as downlink permits) - COR2 Deep Field (36-sec, 5-min), Mar 13-15 (as downlink permits) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 12: M Mar 16 (075) T Mar 17 (076) W Mar 18 (077) T Mar 19 (078) F Mar 20 (079) S Mar 21 (080) S Mar 22 (081) Notes: * Parker Solar Probe Perihelion pass, Mar 8-16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 13: M Mar 23 (082) T Mar 24 (083) W Mar 25 (084) T Mar 26 (085) F Mar 27 (086) S Mar 28 (087) S Mar 29 (088) Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 27 begins Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 27, Mar 29-Apr 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: 2026: * Apr 1-6 Artemis II launch window * Jun 4-12 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Aug 4-14 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 28 * Aug 15-25 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 29 * Sep 1-9 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Sep 11-21 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 30 * Nov 28-Dec 6 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Dec 24 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby 2028: * Mar 18 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby 2029: * Jun 10 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby * Jun 30 Ahead: Mercury transit 2030: * Sep 3 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby ######################################################################## Access the STEREO-SCI-OPS Home Page and Archives: http://listserv.jhuapl.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=STEREO-SCI-OPS Unsubscribe from the STEREO-SCI-OPS List: http://listserv.jhuapl.edu/scripts/wa.exe?TICKET=NzM5NjAzIHNoYWVsYS5pLmpvbmVzbWVjaG9sc2t5QE5BU0EuR09WIFNURVJFTy1TQ0ktT1BTIGvQ3MCEIhMC&c=SIGNOFF ########################################################################