Restart of Limited NOIRLab Operations at Kitt Peak, Cerro Pachón and Cerro Tololo

Limited science operations are being re-established at Kitt Peak, Cerro Tololo, Gemini South, and SOAR facilities following the suspension of activities in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gemini North telescope has been operational since 19 May because of the lower number of COVID-19 cases in Hawaii, and many of the ideas developed and lessons learned at Gemini North are being applied in reopening the other facilities.

Each facility has unique requirements and timelines for restart, with the details depending on weather and the engineering work needed to safely resume operations. The current plans are as follows:

• SOAR Telescope science operations began on 7 October after completing on-sky engineering tests on 6 October.

• Gemini South will resume limited night-time science operations in the second half of October following approximately three weeks of necessary maintenance on the facility, telescope, and instruments.

• At Cerro Tololo, limited nighttime operations of the 4m Blanco telescope resumed on 11 October. The SMARTS 1.5-meter telescope will likely resume operation by early November. Other tenant facilities on Cerro Tololo will be progressively brought back online over the coming month.

• At Kitt Peak, activities are underway to prepare for recommissioning of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the 4m Mayall telescope; recommissioning will be followed by survey validation, which is expected to continue into December. The Mayall and 3.5m WIYN telescopes are expected to resume nighttime activities by mid-November. The NEID spectrometer at WIYN is also being prepared for the restart of commissioning, which is tentatively scheduled for December.

• Limited construction activities on Cerro Pachón for the Rubin Observatory resumed on 28 September. Activities during the first week of the restart included general inspections, dining facility improvements, preparation of equipment, and beginning the replacement of fittings inside the primary/tertiary mirror (M1M3) cell.

Further information is available in the NOIRLab press release.