Over sixty years ago, in 1964, NASA launched its communications satellite, Relay 2, into orbit.

After its launch from Cape Canaveral in January 1964, Relay 2 also helped scientists to understand the trapped radiation belt – an area of space in which the Earth’s magnetic field traps particles, which ultimately help to protect the planet from solar storms.

First discovered in 1958, these radiation belts required plenty of investigation from international space agencies – especially since they pose a radiation risk to astronauts sent into space.

Relay 2 worked hard during its tenure, facilitating global communications just like its predecessor Relay 1 – until 1967 when it ultimately ceased to operate.

As you might expect, things have been quiet from Relay 2 in the 57 ensuing years, as the ‘dead’ satellite continued to orbit, aimlessly, around the Earth.

However, according to an interview with astronomer Clancy James in New Scientist, something unusual happened recently when James and his colleagues at Curtin University, Australia, were using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope array to scan the night sky:

“This was an incredibly powerful radio pulse that vastly outshone everything else in the sky for a very short amount of time. We got all excited, thinking maybe we’d discovered a new pulsar or some other object.”

However, everything was not as it seemed, with the pulse coming from extraordinarily close to Earth.

And as the research team explained in a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, they eventually located the source of the pulse: Relay 2.

So how on earth does a satellite, which has been out of operation for 57 years, suddenly release an overwhelmingly powerful radio pulse?

Well, the team have two hypotheses.

In the first, they suggest that it’s possible that something – whether space junk, a comet, or some other kind of debris – collided with Relay 2. Ultimately, with its communications technology, it is possible that such a collision would cause Relay 2 to emit a temporary, yet powerful, radio pulse.

Alternatively, the researchers explain, it’s possible that the pulse was a result of electrostatic discharge. In this explanation, Relay 2 would have experienced a prolonged build up of electrical charge that ultimately became so overwhelming that it released the pulse (in much the same way as clouds with powerful electrostatic build up ultimately release bright bolts of lightning).

Regardless of its origins, the temporary communication was astounding after the lengthy silence from the satellite, like a spontaneous message from an old friend.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.