Thanks for the update Michael. Plus a solar event, not bad :)

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The ISEE 3 reboot team reports that the spacecraft successfully carried out the spin-stabilization maneuver today, in response to their commands. Next will come the maneuver to place it an a halo orbit near Earth. They add that yesterday the magnetometer aboard the spacecraft was able to detect a recent solar event.

Whooooo-hoooooo! Yay!!

Way to go for some spectacular stuff.

No mean feat for using a GNU "virtual radio" to interface to the old spacecraft. No mean feat in itself just to get the telescope time to be able to do that at all.


Here's wishing them favorable electrons and easy sailing!

Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The ISEE 3 reboot team reports that the spacecraft successfully carried out the spin-stabilization maneuver today, in response to their commands. Next will come the maneuver to place it an a halo orbit near Earth. They add that yesterday the magnetometer aboard the spacecraft was able to detect a recent solar event.

This is so cool.

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The ISEE 3 reboot team reports that the spacecraft successfully carried out the spin-stabilization maneuver today, in response to their commands. Next will come the maneuver to place it an a halo orbit near Earth. They add that yesterday the magnetometer aboard the spacecraft was able to detect a recent solar event.

This is so cool.

Innit:)

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

The ISEE-3 reboot team reports that they will attempt the all-important solar orbit breaking maneuver between 16:42 and 19:29 hours GMT (12:42 to 3:29 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; 9:42 a.m. to 12:29 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) , tomorrow. They will use the Arecibo radio telescope to send the commands. If the thrusters succeed in firing, they will arrange another ranging session to determine if the new orbit is suitable.

Thanx for the update Michael:)

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Thanx for the update Michael:)

+ 1 :)

The plan for Tuesday was that 435 thruster pulses, divided into seven segments, would be attempted. The first segment, of 63 pulses, went well, but problems were encountered during the second, The rest of the segments were canceled for the day.
The team will be looking at the data and trying to work out what needs to be done. They have another session booked at Arecibo for Wednesday, at the same time as the one on Tuesday. Besides solving the persisting problem of intermittent response to commands, they will presumably have to recalculate the thrust, given the distance the spacecraft will travel in 24 hours.

A number of news media have been saying that the ISEE-3 reboot mission team has given up on the possibility of redirecting the spacecraft into an orbit near Earth. A Friday morning blog on Facebook, by Keith Cowing, the spokesman for the project, tells a very different story.
He reports that the team spent all day Thursday with propulsion experts, and that a number of troubleshooting measures were developed. Among these: applying heat to the hydrazine fuel tank, and clearing the (possibly) plugged fuel lines by commanding the spacecraft to execute a multitude of thrust pulses. Cowing reaffirms that they have "most certainly not given up".
Another communications session with the spacecraft is planned for today, again through the Arecibo radio telescope.

Thanx for the update Michael:)

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Thanx for the update Michael:)

+ 1 :)

Ain't given up and ain't dead yet but they do have a small problem about restarting the stalled engines:


Space geeks' resurrected NASA Sun probe ISEE-3 now on collision course with THE MOON

The attempt by a team of crowdfunded space hackers to recover one of NASA's most historic satellites has run into problems: the spacecraft's engines are stubbornly refusing to fire, leaving it on a possible collision course with the Moon...

... "We have identified a series of options including hydrazine tank heating and a long series of pulse attempts to (possibly) clear the lines," the ISEE-3 Reboot Project said on its blog. "We have most certainly not given up on this spacecraft yet."

It's a difficult time for the team...


Here's hoping they can coax the thrusters back to life!

And whether they fly or crash or burn, already tremendous stuff and there's got to be a good film to come out of this out-of-this-world real-world adventure!


Keep seachin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

A long, complex, and highly technical statement has been released by the ISEE-3 reboot team. The gist of it is that there probably is pressuring gas and fuel still available to guide the spacecraft. It had previously been thought that the pressurizing gas that drives the fuel into the thrusters had somehow leaked away, over the years.
It seems possible that this gas, or gasses from the decomposition of the fuel have accumulated in the fuel lines, blocking the fuel from reaching the thrusters. They propose to release this gas, in the hope that the thrusters will then start working again.
Part of the problem appears to be that electrical power to actuate the valves in the fuel lines was not turned on for much of the time during the attempts at applying thrust on July 8th and 9th. Without power, the valves, which permit fuel to travel from the storage tanks to the thrusters, would have remained closed.

Another communications session with the ISEE-3 will occur tomorrow through Arecibo, from 16:19 to 19:03 GMT. (12:19 to 3:03 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and 9:19 a.m. to 12:03 p.m. Pacific Daylight time. It appears that there is still a good chance that they will be able to redirect the spacecraft, as originally planned.

Fingers crossed .....

+ All ten of mine :) um, eight of mine...

Fingers crossed .....

+ All ten of mine :) um, eight of mine...

You all fingers and thumbs and toes?!

;-)


Good luck to all!
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The ISEE-3 reboot team is currently offering live narration on Twitter, of their attempt today to restore thruster function to the spacecraft.

A limited amount of ISEE-3 thruster firing was accomplished on Wednesday. It was enough to (slightly) change the course of the spacecraft. There is some question now, whether the fuel line valves are opening properly.
Another communications session is set for today, starting at 16:13 GMT, (12:13 p.m. EDT; 9:13 a.m. PDT) and running for approximately three hours, thereafter. At least part of this session should be narrated live on Twitter.
Fuel requirements to make the orbit breaking maneuver climb every day, as the ISEE-3 nears Earth. Eventually more fuel would be required than is available onboard. The reboot team is working against a deadline.

Thanx for the update Michael:)

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

If it is good for nothing else this attempt to reactivate an old satellite will teach us about how hardware deteriorates over long periods of time in space.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

After running through a number of actions intended to enable the thrusters on the ISEE 3, over the last several days, the reboot team has had to concede that they will not be able to bring it back into an orbit near Earth. They still hope to do some science with the spacecraft, as several of its instruments apparently continue to function.
There is some uncertainty about how long they will be able to contact the ISEE 3, as it begins moving away from Earth again, in its independent solar orbit. Much will apparently depend on their ability to access to the Arecibo antenna or NASA's Deep Space Network.