International Cometary Explorer
The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft (designed and launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3) satellite), was launched 12 August 1978, into a heliocentric orbit. It was one of three spacecraft, along with the mother/daughter pair of ISEE-1 and ISEE-2, built for the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) program, a joint effort by NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind.
ICE satellite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Names | ISEE-3 International Sun-Earth Explorer-C Explorer 59 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mission type | Magnetospheric research ISEE-3: Sun/Earth L1 orbiter ICE: 21P/G-Z and Halley fly-by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | NASA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 1978-079A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 11004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mission duration | Launch to last routine contact: 18 years, 8 months, 22 days Launch to last contact: 36 years, 1 month, 3 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spacecraft | Explorer LIX | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spacecraft type | International Sun-Earth Explorer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bus | ISEE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Fairchild Industries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch mass | 479 kg (1,056 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dry mass | 390 kg (860 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions | 1.77 × 1.58 m (5 ft 10 in × 5 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power | 173 watts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch date | 12 August 1978, 15:12 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocket | Thor-Delta 2914 (Thor 633 / Delta 144) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-17B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contractor | Douglas Aircraft Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Entered service | 12 August 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| End of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deactivated | 5 May 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last contact | 16 September 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reference system | Heliocentric orbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perihelion altitude | 0.93 AU (139,000,000 km; 86,000,000 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aphelion altitude | 1.03 AU (154,000,000 km; 96,000,000 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inclination | 0.10° | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period | 355 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Explorer program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ISEE-3 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit at the L1 Earth-Sun Lagrange point. Renamed ICE, it became the first spacecraft to visit a comet, passing through the plasma tail of comet Giacobini-Zinner within about 7,800 km (4,800 mi) of the nucleus on 11 September 1985.
NASA suspended routine contact with ISEE-3 in 1997, and made brief status checks in 1999 and 2008.
On 29 May 2014, two-way communication with the spacecraft was reestablished by the ISEE-3 Reboot Project, an unofficial group, with support from the Skycorp company and SpaceRef Interactive. On 2 July 2014, they fired the thrusters for the first time since 1987. However, later firings of the thrusters failed, apparently due to a lack of nitrogen pressurant in the fuel tanks. The project team initiated an alternative plan to use the spacecraft to "collect scientific data and send it back to Earth", but on 16 September 2014, contact with the probe was lost.