Amateur satellite enthusiast Scott Tilley was searching the sky for spy satellites to track when he discovered an unknown object. That object identified itself as the NASA IMAGE satellite, thought to have become non-operational in 2005. NASA has since confirmed that the satellite is indeed IMAGE, and is now planning on using it to observe the magnetosphere near the northern magnetic pole.
Another enthusiast, Cees Bassa, added his own detailed analysis of the error and how it recovered.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday February 01 2018, @03:57PM
Satellites don't fall back to earth when they are not given any orders like the do in video games. Once you are out of the atmosphere, there is nothing stopping you.
The 2nd thing the US ever put in to orbit is still up there: Vanguard 1 [heavens-above.com]. It has at least a couple of hundred years to go.
IMAGE [heavens-above.com] is in a even higher orbit. IMAGE is several hundred times more massive (500kg vs 1.5kg) so that affects it, but its still probably has got centuries of orbit time left.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh