[meteorite-list] NASA Signs Agreement with Citizen Scientists Attempting to Communicate with ISEE-3 Spacecraft

[Ron Baalke]

May 21, 2014
     
NASA Signs Agreement with Citizen Scientists Attempting to Communicate 
with Old Spacecraft

NASA has given a green light to a group of citizen scientists attempting to 
breathe new scientific life into a more than 35-year old agency spacecraft.

The agency has signed a Non-Reimbursable Space Act Agreement (NRSAA) with 
Skycorp, Inc., in Los Gatos, California, allowing the company to attempt to 
contact, and possibly command and control, NASA's International Sun-Earth 
Explorer-3 (ISEE-3) spacecraft as part of the company’s ISEE-3 Reboot 
Project. This is the first time NASA has worked such an agreement for use of 
a spacecraft the agency is no longer using or ever planned to use again.

The NRSAA details the technical, safety, legal and proprietary issues that 
will be addressed before any attempts are made to communicate with or control 
the 1970's-era spacecraft as it nears the Earth in August.

"The intrepid ISEE-3 spacecraft was sent away from its primary mission to 
study the physics of the solar wind extending its mission of discovery to 
study two comets." said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator 
for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington. "We 
have a chance to engage a new generation of citizen scientists through this 
creative effort to recapture the ISEE-3 spacecraft as it zips by the Earth 
this summer."

Launched in 1978 to study the constant flow of solar wind streaming toward 
Earth, ISEE-3 successfully completed its prime mission in 1981. With 
remaining fuel and functioning instruments, it then was redirected to observe 
two comets. Following the completion of that mission, the spacecraft 
continued in orbit around the sun. It is now making its closest approach to 
Earth in more than 30 years.

The goal of the ISEE-3 Reboot Project is to put the spacecraft into an orbit 
at a gravitationally stable point between Earth and the sun known as 
Lagrangian 1 (L1). Once safely back in orbit, the next step would be to 
return the spacecraft to operations and use its instruments as they were 
originally designed. ISEE-3's close approach in the coming weeks provides 
optimal conditions to attempt communication. If communications are 
unsuccessful, the spacecraft will swing by the moon and continue to orbit the 
sun.

NASA has shared technical data these citizen scientists to help them 
communicate with and return data from ISEE-3. The contributions of any 
citizen science provided by the spacecraft, if it is successfully recovered, 
depend on the current condition of its instruments. New data resulting from 
the project will be shared with the science community and the public, 
providing a unique tool for teaching students and the public about spacecraft 
operations and data gathering. The data also will provide valuable 
information about the effects of the space environment on the 36-year old 
spacecraft.

The ISEE-3 mission opened new pathways for scientific exploration, helping 
scientists better understand the sun-Earth system, which at its most 
turbulent can affect satellites around Earth and disrupt our technological 
infrastructure.

To learn more about the ISEE-3 Reboot Project, visit:

http://spacecollege.org/isee3 

To learn more about ISEE-3, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1mSskQs 

-end-

Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole at nasa.gov 

Dennis Wingo
Skycorp/ISEE-3 Reboot Project
310-403-1346
wingod at skycorpinc.com