World’s Oldest Satellite Has Been in Space for 67 Years. Engineers Want to Bring It Home

An awkward-looking, spherical outer the size of a grapefruit launched successful March 1958, and was boosted into a precocious elliptical orbit. The satellite, named Vanguard-1, was a trial of motorboat capabilities during the aboriginal days of the historical abstraction age. Other satellites of its clip person reentered done Earth’s atmosphere, burning up successful a fiery death, but Vanguard-1 is inactive successful orbit, silently zooming done the void of space. A squad of researchers and engineers privation to retrieve the outer for person inspection and are presently moving to find a mode to bring Vanguard-1 home.

Vanguard-1 is the 2nd U.S. outer launched to space. Conceived by the Naval Research Laboratory successful 1955, it was designed to trial the motorboat capabilities of a three-stage motorboat conveyance and the effects of the harsh abstraction situation connected a satellite. Today, it remains arsenic the oldest artificial entity orbiting Earth. A squad of researchers and engineers from Virginia-based consulting steadfast Booz Allen Hamilton person enactment unneurotic a connection connected however to retrieve the outer from space, bringing it backmost to Earth to survey however its instrumentality has fared implicit the years, according to a study by Space.com. The team’s connection is elaborate successful a study published successful the Aerospace Research Center earlier this year.

Vanguard-1 went soundless successful 1964, but tracking information shows its determination and orbit. The outer has persisted for truthful agelong owed to its determination successful a highly elliptical orbit, dissimilar the Soviet Sputniks and the U.S.’s Explorer-1, which fell backmost to Earth wrong months oregon years owed to atmospheric resistance successful debased Earth orbit. If it were to beryllium retrieved, Vanguard-1 would beryllium the oldest outer ever returned to Earth.

The researchers suggest that the outer tin beryllium placed successful a little orbit and snagged from space, oregon reeled into the International Space Station. In 1984, NASA utilized its astronauts to seizure a outer during spacewalks utilizing the jetpack known arsenic the Manned Maneuvering Unit. The Westar 6 and Palapa B2 communications satellites ended up successful the incorrect orbits aft precocious signifier rocket failures, truthful the abstraction bureau sent astronauts to retrieve the wayward but different functional spacecraft, according to NASA. The satellites were placed successful the Space Shuttle payload bay and returned to Earth.

Considering however aged Vanguard-1 is, the astronauts would request to grip it with care, according to the squad down the proposal. Before a retrieval attempt, the squad suggests that a spacecraft beryllium sent to rendezvous with the outer to inspect its information up-close. The engineers suggested partnering with a affluent abstraction enthusiast consenting to money the outer abstraction venture, oregon utilizing a SpaceX conveyance to bring the outer home.

Once it’s brought backmost to Earth, experts would analyse Vanguard-1 to measure its condition—whether it was struck by abstraction debris, if it’s inactive holding together, and however its clip successful orbit has affected the satellite. The outer could past beryllium placed astatine the Smithsonian for show arsenic a benignant of clip capsule, a reminder of the past of spaceflight, the squad suggests.

“Future missions (space debris removal, materials seizure for on-orbit manufacturing, and adjacent heavy abstraction exploration) could physique connected techniques demonstrated successful the retrieval of Vanguard 1,” the insubstantial read. “Retrieving Vanguard 1 would beryllium a challenge, but an achievable and invaluable measurement guardant for the full U.S. abstraction community.”