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Satellite Abandoned In 1967 Mysteriously Comes Back Online

posted by cmn32480 on Thursday November 24 2016, @09:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the they-don't-make-them-like-that-anymore dept.

fliptop writes:

An American satellite abandoned in 1967 suddenly came back online and began transmitting again for the first time in 50 years:

Amateur astronomers first suspected that they'd found the satellite in 2013, but needed years to confirm that it was still occasionally transmitting. The satellite, dubbed LES1, was built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and launched into space in 1965.

A mistake in the satellite's circuitry caused it to never leave its circular orbit, and it eventually stop transmitting in 1967. The satellite's signal now fluctuates widely in strength, meaning that it's likely only transmitting when its solar panels are in direct sunlight. Scientists expect that the satellite's onboard batteries have disintegrated.

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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 24 2016, @05:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 24 2016, @05:05PM (#432461)

    Obviously the statellite picked up broadcasts of Trump rallies and answered his call to service.

    After all, that was when America was still great, so its ready to do its part to take the country back to what it was like in 1965.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 24 2016, @07:00PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 24 2016, @07:00PM (#432512)

    ITYMM May 1954

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 25 2016, @03:30AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 25 2016, @03:30AM (#432729)
    1965? You think the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson was America's zenith?

    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 25 2016, @06:10PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 25 2016, @06:10PM (#432932)

      Of course not. Anytime between Plessey v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education will do. Take us back!