NASA reestablishes contact with long lost spacecraft after two years of silence

LazyLion

LazyLion

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NASA has reestablished contact with its STEREO-B spacecraft, nearly two years after losing communication with the vehicle. The space agency has been trying to get in contact with the spacecraft since October 1st, 2014, when the last signal from STEREO-B was received on Earth. Finally on Sunday, NASA was able to pick up a signal from the vehicle using the Deep Space Network, or DSN — an international network of large radio antennas used for communicating with spacecraft.

STEREO-B is one of two spacecraft that make up NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). The goal of the program is to study the Sun and better understand its behavior. Specifically, STEREO aims to figure out the origins of coronal mass ejections — massive explosions of charged particles that sometimes shoot out from the Sun. These plasma bursts travel all the way to Earth and collide with our planet’s magnetic field, creating powerful geomagnetic storms that can damage communications satellites and mess with our planet’s power grid.

To study these solar outbursts, NASA launched STEREO-A and STEREO-B in 2006. Both spacecraft were inserted into heliocentric orbits; STEREO-A positioned itself "ahead" of Earth, while STEREO-B fell "behind" Earth. These positions allowed the spacecraft to get even more views of the Sun that we can’t get from Earth. The two vehicles have since drifted farther apart on their orbits, though, and will continue to do so while in space.
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http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/22/12589406/nasa-stereo-b-spacecraft-contact-deep-space-network
 
The_MAC

The_MAC

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Sounds like an extract from a movie description: "These plasma bursts travel all the way to Earth and collide with our planet’s magnetic field, creating powerful geomagnetic storms that can damage communications satellites and mess with our planet’s power grid"
 
Nerfherder

Nerfherder

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supersunbird said:
Just coincidence then? But the fact is that it is just one letter short of IBM. MyBBFactPolice
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HAL is one letter short of HALF and also HALO, I can't see how you would get IBM from adding one letter to HAL.


Perhaps you mean one Caesar shift away ?
 
supersunbird

supersunbird

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Nerfherder said:
HAL is one letter short of HALF and also HALO, I can't see how you would get IBM from adding one letter to HAL.


Perhaps you mean one Caesar shift away ?
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Yes, we just didn't have the name for it, yes, it is in fact one caeser shift away
 
P

Purply

Expert Member
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Nerfherder said:
HAL is one letter short of HALF and also HALO, I can't see how you would get IBM from adding one letter to HAL.


Perhaps you mean one Caesar shift away ?
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Read it again, not a letter, it's per letter.

What comes after the letter H, A and L
 
TheMightyQuinn

TheMightyQuinn

Not amused...
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Oct 6, 2010
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Nerfherder said:
HAL is one letter short of HALF and also HALO, I can't see how you would get IBM from adding one letter to HAL.


Perhaps you mean one Caesar shift away ?
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Ah I see what you did there...more codes!!

Caesar shift => Caesar salad => Word Salad => HAL : IBM

:wtf::erm:
 
N

neoprema

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someone needs to introduce them to Boeing and Airbus who still struggle to find lost planes...On Earth.
 
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