NASA’s Relay 2 satellite remained silent in orbit for nearly 60 years. It had been considered a dead space artifact since 1967. But last summer, this space veteran suddenly sent out a powerful signal, which astonished scientists. Astronomers from Curtin University in Australia, working with the powerful radio telescope, ASKAP, recorded an extremely short but incredibly intense burst of energy. The signal was so strong that it literally blinded the radio telescopes for a moment.
“We were very excited, thinking we had discovered a new pulsar or something unknown. It was an incredibly powerful burst of radio waves,” Dr. Clancy James, head of the study, told New Scientist magazine. It was also surprising that the source was unusually close to Earth — so close that telescopes were unable to focus on it immediately.
Careful analysis led James’ team to an unexpected source — the inactive Relay 2 satellite. This discovery raised even more questions. How could a satellite that had not been operational since the space race of the 1960s generate such a powerful impulse?
Scientists have put forward two main hypotheses. The first is that the satellite collided with a piece of space debris, causing a cataclysmic “noise.” The second, more likely explanation is that static electricity accumulated on its surface over decades and was released in the form of a giant electrostatic discharge.
The problem is that modern low Earth orbit is overflowing with space debris, making it extremely difficult to confirm any of the hypotheses. However, this strange “resurrection” may have an unexpected benefit. Detecting such radio pulses from old or inexpensive satellites with limited protection could become a new tool for studying dangerous electrostatic discharges in space, which is critical for the safety of future missions and satellite networks.
The mystery of the zombie satellite remains unsolved, but it opens up new possibilities for space science.
Earlier, we reported on how the Iris lunar rover “woke up” aboard Peregrine.
