STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2026-08-11 (Week 33) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * Madrid is doing some return-to-service testing this week, and is hoping to begin normal operations for DSS 54 & 56 next Tuesday, and DSS 53 next Wednesday. The restoration of DSS 65 is delayed until September 3rd, and DSS 63 until November 2nd. There may continue to be schedule adjustments. INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS -------------------------------- * Ahead is operating nominally. PLASTIC is in operational mode, but with a moderately higher than normal background rate. * After the initial loss of communications with the Behind observatory in September of 2014, NASA stopped periodic recovery operations with the last support on October 17, 2018. DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS ------------------------------------- Week 32 (Aug 3-Aug 9) * On day 215 thru 221 (Aug 3-9), all Madrid tracks were deleted, due to the wildfire recovery in Madrid. The track deletions resulted in the loss of real-time telemetry, SSR, commanding and tracking data. Other DSN and ESA tracks were added to help with the lost tracks. * On day 221 (Aug 9), during the DSS-34 support, turbo decoder lock was lost intermittently between 18:43 and 18:47 UT. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 1766 frames of SSR data. The MOPs team repositioned the SSR pointers during the support and recovered all the affected data. See DR #M119395 for more information. * On day 217 (Aug 5), the 80th SECCHI stepped calibration was executed at 05:10 UT for midpoint in the Ahead orbit. This was the 49th SECCHI stepped calibration roll conducted without gyro use. * Due to the wildfire recovery in Madrid and the deleted tracks for DOY 215 thru 221, 28 hours of science data loss occurred periodically from 2026-08-03 11:03 thru 13:04 UT and 2026-08-08 12:45 thru 2026-08-09 23:59 UT (Mostly SECCHI). * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 5.5 Gbits during this week. Week 33 (Aug 10-16) * Ahead has ten tracks scheduled during the week, all at 480 kbps. * Because of the deleted tracks this week, there will likely be lost data on days 222-223 (August 10-11). * An ESA track was added to the schedule this morning and went well. * An ESA Malargue track has been added for Friday, August 14th, from 09:10 to 12:35 UT. * There is a DSN mission network maintenance scheduled for Sunday, August 16th, from 22:00 UT to 06:00 UT on Monday the 17th. Week 34 (Aug 17-23) * Ahead coverage has been reduced to ten tracks during the week, all at 480 kbps. * The 29th Solar Orbiter remote sensing window begins Monday, August 17th. * On Wednesday, August 19th, there is MOC DSN switch replacement scheduled from 21:30 to 23:30. * There is a PIT test scheduled for Sunday, August 23rd, from 02:55-04:55, during the DSS-53 track. There will be no SSR playback or instrument commanding during this test. Week 35 (Aug 24-30) * Ahead has fourteen tracks during the week, all fourteen at 480 kbps. Week 36 (Aug 31 - Sep 6) * Ahead has twelve tracks during the week, one at 720 kbps and eleven at 480 kbps. * An ESA Malargue track is scheduled for Monday, August 31st, from 12:30 to 16:50 UT. * The 188th momentum dump is scheduled for Tuesday, September 1st, at 13:30 UT. * Parker Solar Probe will be starting their perihelion pass on Tuesday, September 1st. Week 37 (Sep 7-13) * Ahead has ten tracks during the week, all ten at 480 kbps. * APL will be closed on Monday, Sep 7, for the Labor Day holiday. * The 30th Solar Orbiter remote sensing window begins Friday, September 11th. Week 38 (Sep 14-20) * Ahead has thirteen tracks during the week, two at 740 kbps, eleven at 480 kbps. * There is a DSN mission network maintenance scheduled for Tuesday, September 15th, from 10:30-14:30 UT. Other COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 33: M Aug 10 (222) T Aug 11 (223) W Aug 12 (224) T Aug 13 (225) F Aug 14 (226) S Aug 15 (227) S Aug 16 (228) SolO RSW 28 ends Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 28, August 9-16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 34: M Aug 17 (229) SolO RSW 29 begins T Aug 18 (230) W Aug 19 (231) T Aug 20 (232) F Aug 21 (233) S Aug 22 (234) S Aug 23 (235) Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 29, August 17-30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 35: M Aug 24 (236) T Aug 25 (237) W Aug 26 (238) T Aug 27 (239) F Aug 28 (240) S Aug 29 (241) S Aug 30 (242) SolO RSW 29 ends Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 29, August 17-30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 36: M Aug 31 (243) T Sep 01 (244) Ahead: Momentum dump, 13:30, PSP perihelion begins W Sep 02 (245) T Sep 03 (246) F Sep 04 (247) S Sep 05 (248) S Sep 06 (249) Notes: * PSP Perihelion: -COR2 deep field (36 sec exp/5-min cadence), Sept 1-4 (CoRot + Radial + Q w/ Earth) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 37: M Sep 07 (250) Labor Day holiday T Sep 08 (251) W Sep 09 (252) T Sep 10 (253) F Sep 11 (254) SolO RSW 30 begins S Sep 12 (255) S Sep 13 (256) Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 30, Sep 11-21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 38: M Sep 14 (257) T Sep 15 (258) W Sep 16 (259) T Sep 17 (260) F Sep 18 (261) S Sep 19 (262) S Sep 20 (263) Notes: * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 30, Sep 11-21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: 2026: * Nov 28-Dec 6 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Dec 24 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby 2027: * Feb 25-Mar 4 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Feb 8 Solar Orbiter Perihelion * May 24-31 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * July 7 Solar Orbiter Perihelion * Aug 21-28 Parer Solar Probe perihelion pass * Nov 17-24 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Dec 4 Solar Orbiter Perihelion 2028: * Feb 14-21 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Mar 18 Solar Orbiter Venus flyby * May 8 Solar Orbiter Perihelion * May 12-19 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Aug 8-15 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass * Oct 5 Solar Orbiter Perihelion * Nov 5-12 Parker Solar Probe perihelion pass 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=NzM5ODI3IHNoYWVsYS5pLmpvbmVzbWVjaG9sc2t5QE5BU0EuR09WIFNURVJFTy1TQ0ktT1BTIONO%2Fe5vX26v&c=SIGNOFF ########################################################################