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View Full Version here: : Space enthusiasts now in command of ISEE-3 cometary explorer spacecraft


gary
02-06-2014, 05:59 PM
Rachel Courtland in an article on the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE) web site (http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/isee3-update) reports on a private team of space
enthusiasts who raised nearly USD160,000 and that have successfully begun
two-way communication with the 35-year-old ISEE-3 (International Sun/Earth Explorer, later International Cometary Explorer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cometary_Explorer))
spacecraft using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

ISEE-3 was one of the first spacecraft ever placed near the L1 point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point)
and was the first spacecraft ever to visit a comet when it passed through
the tail of Giacobini-Zinner in 1985.

However, NASA lost contact with the spacecraft in 1998.

The ISEE-3 Reboot team's intent is to -



Article here - http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/isee3-update

More about the project here -
http://spacecollege.org/isee3/we-are-now-in-command-of-the-isee-3-spacecraft.html

Team twitter feed here -
https://twitter.com/isee3reboot

DavidU
02-06-2014, 06:38 PM
Awesome stuff ! They are receiving data from it now.
Nice info Gary.

rustigsmed
03-06-2014, 09:30 AM
that is quite awesome!

andyc
03-06-2014, 10:49 AM
Possibly one of the coolest astronomy stories I've read, quite a superb effort!