Several spacecraft have been presumed dead, only to later come back to life. This has happened due to a variety of reasons, such as solar flares, software glitches, and even simple battery drain. In some cases, the spacecraft were able to resume their missions, while in others they were simply lost again.
Here are a few notable examples:
- IMAGE: This NASA spacecraft was designed to study the Earth's magnetosphere. It was launched in 2000 and operated for five years before going silent in 2005. In 2018, it was unexpectedly revived by an amateur radio astronomer.
- ISEE-3: This joint NASA/ESA spacecraft was launched in 1978 to study the solar wind. It was later repurposed to study comets and renamed the Interplanetary Cometary Explorer. In 2014, a group of enthusiasts was able to re-establish contact with the spacecraft and command it to fire its thrusters, sending it on a trajectory back to Earth.
- Giotto: This ESA spacecraft was launched in 1985 to study Halley's Comet. After its primary mission, it was put into hibernation and later reawakened to study another comet.
These are just a few of the many spacecraft that have been revived after being presumed dead. These "miracle" recoveries highlight the resilience of these machines and the ingenuity of the engineers who designed them.