Why did IMAGE go dark in the first place? An analysis by NASA determined an event tripped its Solid State Power Controller, which powers the transponder it uses to communicate with ground control. In other words, it blew a fuse, similar to the failures that shut down two other satellites EO-1 and WMAP. After the trip, due to a design defect, the transponder was not able to power back up. In the analysis, NASA said it was unlikely the mission could be revived.
The last hope was a reboot after what is known as the satellite's “eclipse season,” when the craft lingers in Earth’s shadow, draining its solar-powered batteries. This puts the satellite in a hibernation mode; when it comes out, it reboots. In October 2007, NASA believed it was possible for this reboot to once again power the transponder, but it seemed to fail. As Voosen reports, IMAGE went into an extended eclipse five years ago and again last year. It’s possible that during one of these reboots the transponder regained power.
Patricia Reiff, space plasma physicist at Rice University who was a co-investigator on the mission, tells Voosen that she hopes the satellite comes back online since no current satellite has all of IMAGE's capabilities. In its original press kit, NASA explained that the satellite would give researchers a wide view of particle movements in the magnetosphere and show how the sun interacts with those particles. “It is really invaluable for now-casting space weather and really understanding the global response of the magnetosphere to solar storms,” she tells Voosen.
If I remember correctly, the satellite went completely dark again after nasa "took" control of it.
Remember that time nasa claimed that a satellite they sent up to monitor the earths magnetic field had gone awol and they couldnt find it.
And then years later some amateur radio astromoner finds it and discovers its still transmitting data lmao.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-lost-nasa-satellite-found-amateur-astronomer-180967974/
If I remember correctly, the satellite went completely dark again after nasa "took" control of it.
Concidences? Maybe.