NASA looking into astronomer's claim he found missing satellite in space

After going missing more than 12 years ago, NASA says it is looking into an amateur astronomer's claim he made contact with the agency's IMAGE spacecraft.

The U.S. space agency reports in a news release that the astronomer believes he made contact with the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration in mid-January. The IMAGE spacecraft launched back in March 2000 and was "unexpectedly lost" on Dec. 18, 2005.

"NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has acquired time on the Deep Space Network (DSN) to focus on the source and determine whether the signal is indeed IMAGE," NASA says.

"This process must take into consideration the vintage nature of the spacecraft, and includes locating appropriate software and commands to potentially operate the mission. We will share more information as it becomes available."

The astronomer who said he discovered the still broadcasting IMAGE, Scott Tilley, tells Science Magazine that he was looking for a classified U.S. satellite but picked up the one labeled "2000-017A" which belongs to the long-lost $150 million mission.

The IMAGE spacecraft was launched to study the magnetosphere, which is the invisible magnetic field that surrounds the Earth. Science reports the mission was considered a success by NASA before it went missing.

"The odds are extremely good that it's alive," Patricia Reiff, an IMAGE co-investigator, told the publication. "The team is collectively holding their breath waiting for some real information exchange between IMAGE and the ground."

IMAGE was lost when NASA couldn't "establish a routine communication" with the Deep Space Network. The space agency's official report on the failure cited an unexpected error within the power system as the reason for its disappearance.

Reiff tells Science that if the mission is successfully revived, that it could be in great position to "monitor Earth's northern auroral zone. Since Tilley's findings, NASA has been bringing out old software and reports to try and contact IMAGE with deep space radio antennas.

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