An Amateur Astronomer Just Discovered a Long-Lost NASA Zombie Satellite:

Scott Tilley is an amateur visual and radio astronomer whose hobby is tracking satellites -- specifically, classified spy satellites. As detailed at his blog Riddles in the Sky, he recently stumbled across something unusual: a NASA satellite that has been lost in space since 2005, happily chattering away to anyone who would listen. Luckily, Tilley was. Tilley was on a hunt for Zuma, the secret Air Force spy satellite that was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 7, but failed to achieve orbit. No one knew what Zuma was or what its mission was, but initial reports suggest that the Falcon 9 had no part in the mission failure, and it may have been due to the uncoupling procedure designed by Northrop Grumman, which built the satellite. If the spacecraft is indeed operational, it could resume its mission by monitoring Earth's northern auroral zone. "At the very least it made for an interesting Saturday afternoon in the radio room," said Tilley.

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