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Comment: Added NuSTAR slide

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  • XMM-Newton (Felix Meeker-Fürst): Long ~48-hour orbit with data taken above a certain altitude. Continuous ground station contact is required for data downlink. Fuel savings by going to four reaction wheel drive gives mission lifetime out to ~2035. SOC has absorbed most of the operations work at this point. 
  • NuSTAR (Karl Forster): Low-Earth orbit, orbit lifetime until mid-2030s. Scheduling process: GO program -> SOC (at Caltech) creates schedule and slew sequence -> MOC (at UCB) performs command upload -> spacecraft. Four ground station contacts a day at Malindi (+1 TDRSS contact), average 6 hours between contacts which sets response time. New automated rapid-response ToO system to be implemented soon. Scheduling constraints based on Sun, Moon, star tracker blockages, optics thermal concerns.
  • Swift (Jamie Kennea): MOC and SOC are co-located, allowing for more operational flexibility. ~2000 ToOs per year as of 2025, increasingly automated via API. Observing time is made up of 30-35% GI time, remainder is mostly ToOs, GRBs, calibration, and fill-in programs. Coming up on the end of its orbital lifetime.

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