Unique Broadband Systems Ltd. has agreed to loan our project a 700 watt transmitter. This hardware normally lists for over $200,000. Â Use of this equipment by the ISEE-3 Reboot Project marks a substantial increase in capability. This transmitter will be attached to the 21-meter space antenna at Morehead State University as part of our effort to contact and command ISEE-3. The privately-funded ISEE-3 Reboot Project plan is rather straightforward: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft as it prepares to speed past Earth, command it to fire its engines and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission – a mission it began in 1978.
Working in collaboration with NASA, academia, and the private sector, we have assembled a team of engineers, programmers, and scientists – and have a large radio telescope  fully capable of contacting ISEE-3.  If we are successful we intend to facilitate the sharing and interpretation of all of the new data ISEE-3 sends back via crowd sourcing.
NASA has told us officially that there is no funding available to support an ISEE-3 effort – nor is this work a formal priority for the agency right now. But NASA does feel that the data that ISEE-3 could generate would have real value and that a crowd funded effort such as ours has real value as an education and public outreach activity.
Our team members at Morehead State University, working with AMSAT-DL in Germany, have already detected the carrier signals from both of ISEE-3’s transmitters. Â When the time comes, we will be using the large dish antenna at Morehead State University to contact the spacecraft and give it commands. We are presently formalizing additional working arrangements with other major observatories and will be announcing more detailed information on that shortly.
Time is short. And this project is not without significant risks. Â We need your financial help. ISEE-3 must be contacted in the next month or so and it must complete its orbit change maneuvers no later than mid-June 2014. There is excitement ahead as well: part of the maneuvers will include a flyby of the Moon at an altitude of less than 50 km.
You can donate to our project by visiting http://rkthb.co/42228
In order to interact with the spacecraft we will need to locate the original commands and then develop a software recreation of the original hardware that was used to communicate with the spacecraft. These are our two greatest challenges.
The funding we seek will be used for things we have not already obtained from volunteers. We need to initiate a crash course effort to use ‘software radio’ to recreate virtual versions all of the original communications hardware that no longer physically exists. We also need to cover overhead involved in operating a large dish antenna, locating and analyzing old documentation, and possibly some travel.
This activity will be led by the same team that has successfully accomplished the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) SkyCorp and SpaceRef Interactive. Â Education and public outreach will be coordinated by the newly-formed non-profit organization Space College Foundation.Â
Our trajectory efforts will be coordinated by trajectory maestro Robert Farquhar, Dave Dunham, and their team at KinetX and by Mile Loucks at Space Exploration Engineering Corp. Â We are also working in collaboration with the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, and the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) at NASA Ames Research Center.
About Unique Broadband Systems Ltd.
Unique Broadband Systems Ltd. is a privately owned and operated company with our head office and manufacturing facilities located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. UBS Beijing Technologies, UBS America, UBS Europe and UBS Russia are all owned and controlled by Unique Broadband Systems Ltd. These complimentary businesses were established to support our international customers.Â
Unique Broadband Systems has been in business since 1990 as Unique Broadband Systems, Inc. In September 2003, through a divestiture by Unique Broadband Systems, Inc., UBS reverted to a privately held company. UBS continues its tradition of unwavering commitment to research and development of wireless technologies that enables companies and individuals to access voice, video and data on an “anywhere – anytime” basis. We continue our philosophy of valuing our relationships with our customers, vendors and employees.
For more information please contact David Kantrovitz at 905-669-8533, sales-at-uniquesys.com, or visit http://www.uniquesys.com/
About the ISEE-3 Reboot Project
For Information on the ISEE-3 Reboot Project contact Dennis Wingo at Dennis Wingo-at-skycorpinc.com or 310-403-1346. Â For more information on ISEE-3 and the ISEE-3 Reboot Project please visit http://spacecollege.org/isee3