After 17 lonely years of drifting in space, ISEE-3 may be given a new lease on life. Amidst delays in trying to re-establish full control over the 36 year old satellite, a group of civilian scientists are still dead set on breathing new life into the old NASA satellite.
Scientists working on the ISEE3 Reboot Project saw that they may soon reposition the aging satellite in order to facilitate communications with Earth. Originally, the civilian scientists planned to turn on the satellite's engines this Tuesday, June 17. However, delays in the project have caused the scientists to reconsider and the latest target date is June 21.
"We are now targeting 21 June for our #ISEE3 spin-up maneuver," says the ISEE3 Reboot Project on their Twitter page.
The International Sun/Earth Explorer 3, also known as ICE, was launched back in August 1978. It was designed, built and launched for the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding between the relationship of solar winds and the Earth's own magnetic field. After almost 20 years of fulfilling its mission mandate, the satellite was officially suspended back in 1997. Seventeen years after it was decommissioned, a group of civilian scientists backed by the Skycorp company banded together to resurrect the old satellite. Two-communications with the satellite was re-established last May 29 of this year. The team's base of operations is situated in former McDonald's building in California. However, contact with the satellite is maintained with the help of the Puerto Rico based Arecibo Observatory.
The team is now working to reposition the satellite in order to gain full control of its functions. After re-establishing contact with the satellite, the scientists determined that all of the ISEE-3's 13 instruments are turned on. However, the team is currently unsure how many of the instruments are in full working order. Once, the spacecraft has been maneuvered to a more convenient position, the scientists are hoping to determine the exact status of the instruments on board.
"We will have an online presence on the spacecraft that rivals NASA's," said project co-head Keith Cowing.
Many of the scientists working on the project have gained experience working with NASA on certain projects in the past. NASA has also given the team its blessing to go ahead with their plans. Aside from support from Skycorp, the team was also able to raise over $150,000 through crowdsourcing campaigns. The team is in constant contact with the satellite and are preparing for the upcoming maneuver.
"NASA has given us approval to fire the spin thrusters on ISEE-3 to increase its spin from 19.16 rpm up to the mission specification of 19.75 +/- 0.2 rpm," Cowing said in a post. "This spin rate is required in order to properly fire the axial thrusters during the much longer trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) we need to perform to adjust the spacecraft's course."
