"After a month of receiving the silent treatment, controllers have regained contact with a TRACERS spacecraft that went offline shortly after launch. The next step will be an attempt to recover the spacecraft to the point where science operations can begin. The two TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) were launched on July 23 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California."
"Everything appeared to be going smoothly until, shortly after launch, an issue arose during the commissioning process. Space Vehicle 2 (SV2) was fine, but Space Vehicle 1 (SV1) was not. Engineers reckoned the problem was down to a lack of power through the spacecraft's solar panels and pinned the blame on an issue with the power subsystem. The hope was that by late August, when SV1's solar panels received more sunlight, the situation would change and the spacecraft would resume communication."
"Cluster was designed to study the Earth's magnetosphere. TRACERS is all about investigating magnetic reconnection. According to NASA, "Magnetic reconnection occurs when the solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere, causing magnetic field lines to disconnect and reconnect. This causes particles to rain down into Earth's atmosphere. The effects of space weather can lead to beautiful phenomena, like the aurora, but can also impact space-based infrastructure, like satellites and GPS systems.""
Contact with one TRACERS spacecraft (SV1) was reestablished after roughly a month offline following launch. Controllers plan to attempt recovery actions to restore power and progress to science operations. The twin TRACERS satellites launched on July 23; SV2 remained healthy while SV1 experienced commissioning issues. Engineers suspected insufficient power from SV1's solar panels and a fault in the power subsystem, with hopes that increased sunlight by late August would restore communications. The impact on mission objectives and the timing of science work remain uncertain. TRACERS is focused on studying magnetic reconnection and related space-weather effects.
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