Thursday, December 30, 2010

Galaxy 15 Back Under Control

Galaxy 15, the communications satellite that went out of control last April and began wandering through the constellation of communications satellites, threatening havoc, came back under control last week. Engineers think the battery powering the satellite finally went dry, whereupon the onboard computer reset, as it was designed to do in such circumstances, and began accepting commands from the ground again.

Intelsat, owner of the satellite, has put it in safe mode until all its systems can be thoroughly checkd out. After that, a decision will be made as to whether Galaxy 15 can be returned to service. Engineers still don't know what made the satellite malfunction in the first place.

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