The Soviet Lunokhod 1 rover went silent on the Moon in 1971, then scientists found its lost reflector in 2010 and got a signal bright enough to reopen a forgotten corner of lunar science

For nearly forty years after the rover went silent, that reflector was effectively lost. Then, in March 2010, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the rover from above. In March 2010, the team turned the camera on the region where Lunokhod 1 was believed to have died. The APOLLO team was accustomed to working with Lunokhod 2, whose reflector had been located and used for decades. Later analysis suggested that Lunokhod 1’s reflector was returning signals roughly four to five times stronger than Lunokhod 2’s.