If a spacecraft that was launched long ago comes back near to Earth after a long journey in space, can you wake it up and tell it to get back to work sensing the Earth's magnetic field? Who would fund such a project? Read on.
- LRK -
ISEE-3 Reboot Project by Space College, Skycorp, and SpaceRef
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Recently in About Category
By Keith Cowing on March 14, 2014 11:01 AM
Space College Foundation, Inc. (Space College) is a Virginia-based nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide access to educational resources, career opportunities, and hands-on involvement in space exploration. While our main focus is on learning after high school, we strive to support learning about space exploration for students of all ages. More information on Space College can be found here.
Space College is wherever you are....
Space College is wherever you are....
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http://spacecollege.org/
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http://spacecollege.org/
ISEE-3 Away Team Is at Arecibo
In April 2014 the ISEE-3 Reboot Project was announced. According to their website "Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft, command it to fire its engine and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission - a mission it began in 1978. ISEE-3 was rechristened as the International Comet Explorer (ICE). If we are successful it may also still be able to chase yet another comet. Working in collaboration with NASA we have assembled a team of engineers, programmers, and scientists - and have a large radio telescope fully capable of contacting ISEE-3. If we are successful we intend to facilitate the sharing and interpretation of all of the new data ISEE-3 sends back via crowd sourcing."[8]
On May 15 2014 the crowd-funding goal of US$ 125 000 for the reboot project was reached.
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The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft was originally known as International Sun/Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) satellite, launched August 12, 1978. It was part of the ISEE (International Sun-Earth Explorer) international cooperative program between NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. The program used three spacecraft, a mother/daughter pair (ISEE-1 and ISEE-2) and a heliocentric orbit spacecraft (ISEE-3, later renamed ICE).
ISEE-3 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit at one of Earth-Sun Lagrangian points (L1). It was later (as ICE) sent to visit Comet Giacobini-Zinner and became the first spacecraft to do so by flying through acomet's tail passing the nucleus at a distance of approximately 7800 km.[1] ICE was not equipped with cameras.
ISEE-3 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit at one of Earth-Sun Lagrangian points (L1). It was later (as ICE) sent to visit Comet Giacobini-Zinner and became the first spacecraft to do so by flying through acomet's tail passing the nucleus at a distance of approximately 7800 km.[1] ICE was not equipped with cameras.
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ICE's current trajectory will bring it close to Earth in August 2014.[4] On February 4, 2014, the Goddard Space Flight Center announced that the Deep Space Network equipment necessary to transmit signals to the spacecraft had been decommissioned in 1999, and that replacing it was not economically feasible.[6] But an 18-meter satellite dish at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory does still have the right hardware, and NASA gave them approval to try to achieve contact. If they can get it to change its orbit by late May or early June, it could use the Moon's gravity to get back into a halo orbit from which it could once again perform its original mission. This is the only realistic chance to do that.[7]In April 2014 the ISEE-3 Reboot Project was announced. According to their website "Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft, command it to fire its engine and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission - a mission it began in 1978. ISEE-3 was rechristened as the International Comet Explorer (ICE). If we are successful it may also still be able to chase yet another comet. Working in collaboration with NASA we have assembled a team of engineers, programmers, and scientists - and have a large radio telescope fully capable of contacting ISEE-3. If we are successful we intend to facilitate the sharing and interpretation of all of the new data ISEE-3 sends back via crowd sourcing."[8]
On May 15 2014 the crowd-funding goal of US$ 125 000 for the reboot project was reached.
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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
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