Citizen scientists to take over 36-year-old satellite, NASA says

A group of citizen scientists can take over a 36-year-old decommissioned robotic space probe that will fly by the Earth in August, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration says.

Citizen scientists to take over 36-year-old satellite, NASA says 1400887434755

Citizen scientists to take over 36-year-old satellite, NASA says 1400887434755

Launched in 1978, the International Sun/Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3) spacecraft studied how the stream of charged particles flowing from the sun, the so-called solar wind, interacts with Earth's magnetic field.

After completing its primary mission, the probe was given a new name, the International Comet Explorer, and new targets to study, including the famed Comet Halley as it passed by Earth in March 1986.

A third assignment to investigate powerful solar storms, known as coronal mass ejections, followed until 1997, when NASA deactivated the spacecraft.
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In August, the satellite's graveyard orbit around the sun will bring it back by Earth, a feat of physics that caught the eye of an ad hoc group of citizen scientists. Last month, the team launched a successful crowd-funding project to raise $US125,000 to reboot the probe.

On Wednesday, the project received NASA's blessings - and access to technical data to help engineers make contact.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/citizen-scientists-to-take-over-36yearold-satellite-nasa-says-20140523-zrmzn.html

Citizen scientists to take over 36-year-old satellite, NASA says

Citizen scientists to take over 36-year-old satellite, NASA says

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