Engines Fired Up, After 27 Years Idle . . .
36-Year-Old NASA Probe's Engines Successfully Fired Up by Private Team
The team intends to rescue the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 and then focus on what to use the spacecraft for
7-6-2014 | Elizabeth Howell & SPACE.com
An old NASA spacecraft under the control of a private team fired its thrusters yesterday (July 2) for the first time in a generation.
NASA's International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 probe (ISEE-3), which the agency retired in 1997, performed the maneuver in preparation for a larger trajectory correction next week. The spacecraft hadn't fired its engines since 1987, ISEE-3 Reboot Project team members said.
Not enough more.