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Dec 21, 2019 – Landsat 8 Safe Mode Update

On December 19, 2019 at approximately 12:23 UTC, Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft constraint which triggered entry into its safe mode. 

Landsat 8 in orbit

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The spacecraft remains stable and safe at this time. The Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team (FOT) is continuing to work the activities needed to return to normal operations in a safe and controlled manner.  During this time, some provisional data may become visible for download. This could happen for users who use automated machine-to-machine services. This provisional data has not been fully processed or analyzed by calibration and validation engineers; it should be treated as 'engineering data'.

Another status will be provided once the total duration for the recovery timeline is determined and the spacecraft resumes nominal operations.