On August 12, 1978, a spacecraft called the ISEE-3 was launched to study the Sun to measure the solar winds and magnetic particles. But no one ever thought that it would come back to humanity after many decades. Now it’s on a new mission to become citizen science’s first spacecraft, with data accessible by everyone.

Click here to the experience the journey of ISEE-3 from 1978 to the present year.

Comet Chaser – 1982

In 1982, ISEE-3 was assigned to chase a comet and became the first spacecraft ever to fly in the talil of a comet. In the same year a complicated maneuver removed the ISEE-3 from its halo orbit for the new mission.

Since only a small amount of fuel was on board, scientists instead catapulted it around Earth, past the L2 Lagrange Point and several flybys of the Moon using gravity assist to eject it out into space. This transfer orbit was the first of its kind in space flight.

Changing Times-1986

For years the spacecraft studied Coronal mass ejections from the Sun. But by 1995 it was being operated under only a low duty cycle, no longer on an official mission. And only a few years later, it was deactivated entirely, with only a carrier signal left operating.

Contact [Reboot Project]-2014

In 2014 Dennis Wingo and Keith Cowing  formed the ISEE-3 Reboot Project , a crowdfunded effort to attempt to get in contact and gain control of the decommissioned spacecraft for the benefit of citizen science. The team raised almost $160,000 in funding, and assembled top space experts for the cause.

They sent a signal from Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope. Since the spacecraft was from the ‘70’s, they had to build a custom software defined radio capable of speaking to the outdated telemetry. In May 2014, they began successfully communicating with the spacecraft in advance of its August 10th lunar flyby.

Take a peek in into the ISEE-3 reboot mission,

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISEE-3 DATA FEED!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISEE-3 LIVE POSITION FEED!

Behind the scenes

A Spacecraft for All” is an interactive documentary combining film and 3D graphics, allowing you to follow the spacecraft’s story as you trace it along its entire 36 year journey. Along the way, you can encounter orbits and comets in unique interactive experiences, so you can learn about the amazing space principles the spacecraft helped us understand. The story tracks the spacecraft through its early years all the way up to its actual position in 2014, culminating on August 10th, 2014, in a live event 30 billion miles in the making – when it makes its long-awaited lunar flyby of the Moon – and you can follow it live in our lunar flyby demo alongside Project Reboot’s team and the rest of the world.

The Tech

  1. GOOGLE CHROME
  2. WEBGL
  3. THREE.JS
  4. APP ENGINE
  5. WEBAUDIO
  6. HANGOUTS
Scale Disclaimer
Objects in this experience might be closer or further away than they appear. While all graphics are inspired by the actual trajectory of the ISEE-3, the universe and everything within it is artistically interpreted.
Credits
 

Hope you enjoyed it!

Regin Vinny
Codage Studio