It suffered from short-circuits, faulty radio and power systems, an unreliable tape-recorder, a sticky camera platform, and the loss of much of the gas that supplied its stabilising thrusters a problem overcome by repositioning its solar panels and main antenna so that they acted as solar sails, stabilising the probe via the gentle pressure of sunlight.

ECONOMIST: The long arm of the celestial repairman

This describes how sunlight falling on a rotating asteroid and subsequently re-emitted as heat can give it an amazingly gentle push.

ECONOMIST: Celestial mechanics: A rock in a hard place | The