This may interest some list members, http://www.rockethub.com/projects/42228-isee-3-reboot-project-by-space-colle... Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft, command it to fire its engine and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission - a mission it began in 1978. ISEE-3 was rechristened as the International Comet Explorer (ICE). If we are successful it may also still be able to chase yet another comet. ... The "Hack" xkcd http://xkcd.com/1337/ mentions the ISEE-3 http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1978-079A is the NASA National Space Science Data Center ISEE-3 page