Attempts to reactivate 36 year old NASA probe

[Analoguesat]

Great stuff

ISEE-3 was junked in 1997, now hobbyists are trying to reactivate the dilapidated old probe for a new mission!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nasa-probe-isee-3-20140423,0,1631454.story


http://www.rockethub.com/42228

 

[Channel Hopper]

Interesting indeed, but I would have thought with two comets already chased, the most important question would be, how much fuel is left on board ?

There's not much info in the usual places.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1978-079A

and the original specification sheet only shows what it was originally launched with.

 

[Analoguesat]

Its fuel reserve is about 150 m/s delta v

 

[hexah]

Fascinating.


I hope they have success in getting it to accept commands.

 

[Analoguesat]

I think its a superb effort, and I really hope it succeeds. Its this sort of project that inspires the public's interest in space

 

[Analoguesat]

The LOIRP project data is worth a read as well - this one is rescuing lost lunar photos taken prior to the Apollo missions

 

[2cvbloke]

It'll be interesting seeing of they can interface with the onboard hardware considering that the computers that used to operate are most likely in a museum or have been sent to china to turn into junk on deal extreme, they'd definitely need to use either legacy hardware or use an emulator of somesort to send out the appropriate code...

 

[Analoguesat]

Almost all the transmitting hardware has been junked - as far as I can make out theres a suitable uplink component still in place on one of the deep space tracking telescopes.

They are rebuilding a modern mission control on a couple of computers & using software radio to test the radio signals!

 

[hexah]

The computers used in those days were only a step up from punched card computers. It sounds like they are doing well, they have got as far as simulations so they must be almost ready to go.

The LOIRP project data is worth a read as well - this one is rescuing lost lunar photos taken prior to the Apollo missions

Another great project that would have been just a pipe dream until recently.

Though I bet they are tired of those tv studio landing conspiracy jokes.

 

[Channel Hopper]

The LOIRP project data is worth a read as well - this one is rescuing lost lunar photos taken prior to the Apollo missions

Which would be rescuing lost lunar photos according to the conspiracists.

 

[2cvbloke]

Well, conspiracy theorists are lunatics anyway...

 

[hexah]

Or terrible humourists . . .

 

[Analoguesat]

Initial contact attempts successful!

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

 

[Captain Jack]

Amazing! It was certainly not made in China....

 

[2cvbloke]

If it was, it'd have been DOA once up in space...

 

[Analoguesat]

Looks like the dream is over - the nitrogen tanks that pressurize the hydrazine propellant seem to be empty


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/s...itrogen-to-push-it-home.html?ref=science&_r=2

 

[2cvbloke]

I guess they forgot to do the 20 million mile service to keep the tanks filled...

Still, at least they have a plan B, to learn all that is learn-able and transmit it home, wait, that's the plot from Star Trek: The motion picture, be prepared for the attack of V'Ger........

 

[battenfan]

Our propulsion experts say it is unlikely that we've lost Nitrogen &/or Hydrazine reserves. Most likely some gas in the lines #ISEE3 1/2
Some additional heating and a few hundred thruster pulse firings might clear the lines. Working up a plan now for next week #ISEE3 2/2
...
Just learned that our next pass at Arecibo is tomorrow (Wed) 12:19 - 3:03 pm ET #ISEE3

You should follow them live on twitter.
https://twitter.com/ISEE3Reboot

 

[Channel Hopper]

Looks like the dream is over - the nitrogen tanks that pressurize the hydrazine propellant seem to be empty


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/s...itrogen-to-push-it-home.html?ref=science&_r=2

Citroens can crawl home with empty nitrogen spheres.

Anyways, there's a reboot

We were astonished when we found out prior to the flyby that the solar arrays were putting out considerably more than current computer modeling of array degradation suggested. This is a major mission enabler now that the spacecraft is outside of the Earth's orbit.
Marco Collelouri (our controls and AOCS engineer) ran a calculation that indicates that our minimum power will still be about 86 watts at 1.2 astronomical units, the aphelion of the ISEE-3 orbit. This does mean that we will have to turn off one of the two transponders, but if we do that we can then power the most critical experiments, which begins to lead us to the science part of this status report.


One last note about spacecraft health is that though we do see some degradation in the electronics on the spacecraft, including the communications system, we feel that there is every chance that in seven years, and even in fifteen years, ISEE-3 will still be a functional spacecraft, a remarkable testament to the people that built it!

http://spacecollege.org/isee3/isee-3-post-lunar-flyby-status-and-modification-of-mission-goals.html

 

[2cvbloke]

Now if it was made in china, it would have broken within a week of delivery...