Interesting piece on Emily Lakdawalla's planetary society blog about the ICE spacecraft.
If you do not remember, that was originally the ISEE-3 spacecraft launched in 1978 to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind, then in 1983, was sent on to study comet Giacobini-Zinner.
Apparently last month JPL were in contact with it for the first time since 1999. The spacecraft is still healthy with only one of its 11 instruments not working.
It seems like they are now considering getting funding to send it on to another comet!
One amusing bit from the blog....
"it was revealed that the fellow who was supposed to have instructed ICE to turn off its radio transmitters during the last communications session maybe had not done so"
Maybe had not done so......... One way to beat the bureaucrats and bean counters!
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001673/
Cheers,
Maurice
If you do not remember, that was originally the ISEE-3 spacecraft launched in 1978 to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind, then in 1983, was sent on to study comet Giacobini-Zinner.
Apparently last month JPL were in contact with it for the first time since 1999. The spacecraft is still healthy with only one of its 11 instruments not working.
It seems like they are now considering getting funding to send it on to another comet!
One amusing bit from the blog....
"it was revealed that the fellow who was supposed to have instructed ICE to turn off its radio transmitters during the last communications session maybe had not done so"
Maybe had not done so......... One way to beat the bureaucrats and bean counters!
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001673/
Cheers,
Maurice
* Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a day.
* Teach a man to use the internet and he won't bother you for weeks.
