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NASA Retires Kepler Space Telescope

After nine years in deep space collecting data that indicate our sky to be filled with billions of hidden planets - more planets even than stars - NASA's Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system, many of which could be promising places for life.

"As NASA's first planet-hunting mission, Kepler has wildly exceeded all our expectations and paved the way for our exploration and search for life in the solar system and beyond," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Not only did it show us how many planets could be out there, it sparked an entirely new and robust field of research that has taken the science community by storm. Its discoveries have shed a new light on our place in the universe, and illuminated the tantalizing mysteries and possibilities among the stars."

Kepler has opened our eyes to the diversity of planets that exist in our galaxy. The most recent analysis of Kepler's discoveries concludes that 20 to 50 percent of the stars visible in the night sky are likely to have small, possibly rocky, planets similar in size to Earth, and located within the habitable zone of their parent stars. That means they're located at distances from their parent stars where liquid water - a vital ingredient to life as we know it - might pool on the planet surface.

[...] Before retiring the spacecraft, scientists pushed Kepler to its full potential, successfully completing multiple observation campaigns and downloading valuable science data even after initial warnings of low fuel. The latest data, from Campaign 19, will complement the data from NASA's newest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, launched in April. TESS builds on Kepler's foundation with fresh batches of data in its search of planets orbiting some 200,000 of the brightest and nearest stars to the Earth, worlds that can later be explored for signs of life by missions such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

The Dawn spacecraft orbiting Ceres will also exhaust the remainder of its hydrazine in the coming days. It will maintain an orbit around Ceres for decades, if not centuries.

Also at The Verge and Associated Press.

Previously: Kepler Space Telescope Put into Hibernation Mode before Start of 19th Observation Campaign
NASA's Kepler Telescope Wakes Up, Begins Hunting for Planets Again

Related:

Original Submission

1. "takyon" - https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/
2. "NASA Retires Kepler Space Telescope" - https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7272
3. "exhaust the remainder of its hydrazine" - https://spacenews.com/nasas-dawn-and-kepler-missions-near-their-ends/
4. "The Verge" - https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/30/18044152/nasa-kepler-space-telescope-out-of-fuel-dead
5. "Associated Press" - https://www.apnews.com/63450c292ae849fc8ad0fe49c4da8c5c
6. "Kepler Space Telescope Put into Hibernation Mode before Start of 19th Observation Campaign" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/07/08/0210213
7. "NASA's Kepler Telescope Wakes Up, Begins Hunting for Planets Again" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/09/06/2148255
8. "NASA Kepler Telescope Discovers 715 New Planets" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=14/02/27/1413205
9. "Kepler Proves it can Still Find Planets" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=14/12/19/1635252
10. "74 Small Exoplanets With Circular Orbits Identified" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=15/06/02/2322258
11. "NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Earth-Like Planet In Sun-Like Star's Habitable Zone" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=15/07/24/0246244
12. "Kepler Extended Mission Finds More Exoplanets" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/01/12/0151256
13. "NASA's Kepler Mission Doubles Number of "Verified" Exoplanets, Including 9 Potentially Habitable" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/05/11/0154244
14. "NASA Identifies "Pumpkin Stars"" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/11/01/0027240
15. "Kepler Exoplanet Results Briefing on June 19th, Conference From 19th-23rd" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/06/16/0028209
16. "Google Researchers Discover an 8th Planet in the Kepler-90 System" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/12/14/1835207
17. "Citizen Scientists Credited for Discovery of Multi-Planet System" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/01/12/1536205
18. "Kepler's K2 Mission Going Strong With Another 95 New Exoplanets Confirmed" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/02/16/062257
19. "Kepler Telescope Spots a Fast Supernova" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/04/04/0157232
20. "NASA's TESS Mission Set to Launch on Wednesday, April 18" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/04/12/1828241
21. "Researchers Suggest an Abundance of "Water World" Exoplanets" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/08/18/2243218
22. "NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Nears the End of its Mission" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/09/10/2111209
23. "New Evidence Supports Existence of Neptune-Sized Exomoon Orbiting Kepler-1625b" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/10/03/2225254
24. "Gaia Observations Could Reduce the Number of Exoplanets Considered Potentially Habitable" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/10/30/1142251
25. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=29854

printed from SoylentNews, NASA Retires the Kepler Space Telescope after It Runs Out of Hydrazine on 2025-07-12 11:49:33