Kepler mission ends
Posted: Sun, Nov 4, 2018, 8:56 AM ET (1356 GMT)
NASA's Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft has ended operations after running out of fuel. NASA announced Tuesday that the spacecraft would no longer be able to perform science observations after exhausting the last of the hydrazine fuel used for attitude control. Final commands to decommission the spacecraft will be executed in the next week or two. The spacecraft, launched in 2009, changed astronomers' views on the abundance of planets after discovering several thousand exoplanets. Astronomers now believe planets, including small rocky worlds the size of the Earth, are commonplace around stars.
NASA's Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft has ended operations after running out of fuel. NASA announced Tuesday that the spacecraft would no longer be able to perform science observations after exhausting the last of the hydrazine fuel used for attitude control. Final commands to decommission the spacecraft will be executed in the next week or two. The spacecraft, launched in 2009, changed astronomers' views on the abundance of planets after discovering several thousand exoplanets. Astronomers now believe planets, including small rocky worlds the size of the Earth, are commonplace around stars.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, January 11
Sidus Space Appoints Aerospace Executive Kelle Wendling to Board of Directors
Sidus Space — 6:25 pm ET (2325 GMT) Astronomers Reveal Hidden Lives of the Early Universe’s Ultramassive Galaxies
Keck Observatory — 6:23 pm ET (2323 GMT) ThinkOrbital Inc. Announces Seed Round Led by TFX Capital to Accelerate Defense-Driven Space Capabilities, On-Orbit Servicing, and In-Space Construction
ThinkOrbital — 6:19 pm ET (2319 GMT) Starlab and Seven Grand Managers Announce Strategic Investment
Voyager Space — 6:17 pm ET (2317 GMT) Unprecedented Data on Global River Quality, Quantity Now Gathered From Space, Powered by UMass Amherst-Built Software
Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst — 6:17 pm ET (2317 GMT) |
