ISEE-3 spacecraft : Citizen scientists aim to restart long-silent NASA probe

A team of crowdfunded scientists have successfully re-established communication with an abandoned space probe, last used nearly 30 years ago.

The ISEE-3 Reboot Project has announced that it has achieved two-way communication with the ISEE-3, which was originally launched by NASA in 1978, writes Forbes.

The satellite is responding to commands according to team members. The scientists said, “Our team has established two-way communication with the ISEE-3 spacecraft and has begun commanding it to perform specific functions. Over the coming days and weeks our team will make an assessment of the spacecraft’s overall health and refine the techniques required to fire its engines and bring it back to an orbit near Earth.”

Since the equipment originally used to send commands to the satellite had been destroyed, the team had to create software emulators to communicate with the satellite. While the satellite has responded and communications have been set up, it remains to be seen if the satellite’s systems are capable of responding to commands to reposition it.

Agencies/Canadajournal