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Ars Technica: The International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) was launched by NASA in 1978 and studied the solar wind throughout the 1980s. At the end of its mission, the satellite was put on course to lead Earth in its orbit, and contact was ended in 1997. Now the satellite is catching up with Earth from behind. NASA did not want to spend the money to reestablish communication with the satellite, so the agency gave the communication information to a private group. On 29 May, the ISEE-3 Reboot Project used the Arecibo radio observatory to successfully establish communications with the satellite. The team intends to evaluate the satellite's systems and hopes to be able to fire its engines to return the satellite to Earth orbit.
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Contact reestablished with ISEE-3 spacecraft Free
30 May 2014