After nearly two years of silence, NASA re-establishes contact with lost spacecraft

For nearly two years, a spacecraft known as STEREO-B has silently trailed our planet.

According to NASA, scientists lost contact with the satellite on Oct. 1, 2014 during a routine test. After 22 months adrift in space, contact was re-established Sunday evening.

Launched in 2006, the STEREO mission -- short for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories -- saw two spacecraft deployed in our planet’s orbit, with one ahead of the Earth and the other behind it. With each satellite providing marginally different views of the sun, scientists were able to combine data from the spacecraft to create three dimensional images, giving us a complete view of our solar system’s star.

Communications with STEREO-A, which orbits ahead of the Earth, were never lost.

The STEREO spacecraft also study coronal mass ejections, which are large releases of plasma from the surface of the sun that, in addition to causing majestic aurorae like the Northern Lights, can also damage and disrupt radio transmissions, satellites and electrical grids.

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  In this frame grab taken from enhanced video made by NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft, comet ISON, left, approaches the sun on Nov. 25, 2013. Comet Encke is shown just below ISON. (NASA)

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  This graphic shows the positions of the two STEREO spacecraft and their orbits in relation to Earth, Venus, Mercury and the sun. (NASA)