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    $\begingroup$ Great info! I immediately thought of the ZOE when I read the question since that was definitely a thing in the shuttle days, but I thought it had been closed. That was certainly when everyone broke for the bathroom/coffee machine back then. $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ ESAs Colka antenna should be fully operational soon which uses the EDRS constellation. Maybe this will finally close this loss of signal window at all times. $\endgroup$
    – PeteBlackerThe3rd
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 8:35
  • $\begingroup$ TY for the answer, it does make sense. Still, I don’t understand why the camera frequently is ON when passing over/near FSAL … for views obscured by clouds. Makes no sense to me that the camera is OFF when clear views present. ColKa was installed in Jan 2021. Any idea when to be fully operational? So far, I’ve seen no change in views over southern Indian Ocean. $\endgroup$
    – CA Joe W
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 20:33
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    $\begingroup$ @CAJoeW the ZOE shifts north and south over time, as the TDRS satellites are not perfectly geostationary, but rather make small figure 8 patterns as they drift north and south in their orbits. No conspiracy here, just geography and coincidence. $\endgroup$
    – Tristan
    Commented Jul 2, 2022 at 21:19