STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2026-07-28 (Week 31) ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------- * None 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 30 (July 20-26) * On day 201 (Jul 20), DSS-35 conducted a Return-To-Service (RTS) engineering demo track. The purpose was to verify X-band Telemetry, Tracking and Command operations after the completion of the Depot Level Maintenance. The MOC successfully received real-time telemetry, monitor data, and sent four commands. * On day 205 (Jul 24), during the DSS-56 support, the antenna was stowed at 12:52 UT, due to the wildfires in Spain. The Madrid facilities were evacuated until further notice. This anomaly resulted in the loss of 1.8 hours of real-time telemetry, SSR, commanding and tracking data. See DR# M119294 for more information. * On day 206 (Jul 25), the DSS-65 track was deleted, due to the wildfires in Madrid. This anomaly resulted in the loss of five hours of real-time telemetry, SSR, commanding and tracking data. See DR# M119307 for more information. The facility is still on red, but there is no major damage and the facility team is on site working on clean-up. * On day 202 (Jul 21), the 187th momentum dump was executed successfully at 13:00 UT, which imparted an estimated delta V of 0.088 m/sec. This was the 106th momentum dump conducted without gyro use. After thruster operations completed, there was a 0.9 degree of roll angle error. Fine pointing stabilized 2.8 minutes after completion of the momentum dump. * On day 203 (Jul 22), the PLASTIC team conducted real-time commanding to increase the MCP voltage level. Toni expressed her appreciation for team members who stood by to assist, including Peter Schroeder, and reported a significant increase in instrument performance as a result of this change. * On day 206 (Jul 25), the SECCHI instrument reset at 20:23:10 UT. The SECCHI team reconfigured the instrument to operational mode by 207-09:43 UT. This was the 91st reset of the SECCHI instrument on the Ahead observatory. * Due to the wildfires in Madrid and the deleted tracks on DOY 205-207, 23 hours of housekeeping and science data loss occurred periodically from 2026-205-12:40 thru 207-23:59 UT. * The average daily science data return for Ahead was 6.0 Gbits during this week. Week 31 (July 27-Aug 2) * Some Canberra and Goldstone tracks were added to this week's schedule to ensure adequate coverage in the event of further track cancellations due to the Madrid wildfire. Affected tracks will remain on the schedule but may be cancelled in real time depending on station availability. * The DSN mission network maintenance scheduled for Monday, July 27th, was cancelled to free up antenna time, due to the disruptions caused by the Madrid wildfire. * There was an ESA New Norcia track added to the schedule on Tuesday, July 28th, from 02:55-04:35 UT. * An ESA Malargue track was added to the schedule for Saturday, August 1st, from 09:30 to 13:30 UT. * An ESA Malargue track was added to the schedule for Sunday, August 2nd, from 09:00 to 10:50 UT. Week 32 (Aug 3-Aug 9) * Ahead has thirteen tracks during the week, one at 720 kbps and twelve at 480 kbps. * An ESA Malargue track was added to the schedule for Monday, August 3rd, from 12:45 to 15:20 UT. * An ESA New Norcia track was added to the schedule for Monday, August 3rd, from 20:25 to 23:30 UT. * The 80th SECCHI stepped calibration roll is scheduled for Wednesday, August 5th, at 05:10 UT. * An ESA Maralgue track was added to the schedule for Friday, August 8th, at 09:05 UT. * The 28th Solar Orbiter remote sensing window begins Sunday, August 9th. Week 33 (Aug 10-16) * Ahead has eleven tracks during the week, two at 720 kbps and nine at 480 kbps. * 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 has fourteen tracks during the week, two at 720 kbps and twelve at 480 kbps. * The 29th Solar Orbiter remote sensing window begins Monday, August 17th. * 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, ten at 720 kbps and two at 480 kbps. * The 184th 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. Other COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 31: M Jul 27 (208) T Jul 28 (209) W Jul 29 (210) T Jul 30 (211) F Jul 31 (212) S Aug 1 (213) S Aug 2 (214) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scheduled activities for Week 32: M Aug 3 (215) T Aug 4 (216) W Aug 5 (217) Ahead: SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 05:10 UT T Aug 6 (218) F Aug 7 (219) S Aug 8 (220) COR2 support for SolO/HI high-cadence campaign S Aug 9 (221) SolO RSW 28 begins, COR2 support cont. Notes: * SECCHI COR2 5-min pB (Opp w/ STA), August 8-9 * Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 28, August 9-16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) COR2 support for SolO/HI high-cadence campaign S Aug 16 (228) SolO RSW 28 ends, COR2 support cont. Notes: * SECCHI COR2 5-min pB (Opp w/ STA), August 15-16 * 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) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming events: 2026: * Sep 11-21 Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Window 30 * 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 ########################################################################