NASA: Kepler Space Telescope mission over now that fuel runs out

NASA says that the Kepler space telescope is now really out of fuel. The spacecraft has been running low on fuel for some time and has been put into sleep mode regularly to save money. The mission of the telescope searching for exoplanets is now finally over.

A member of NASA’s Kepler team announced on Twitter that every drop of the hydrazine has been consumed and that no fuel left. NASA has managed to download the data from the most recent 19th observation campaign.

The spacecraft will remain in orbit around the sun forever, with Earth overtaking Kepler’s orbit around 2060. However, there will always be more than a million miles between Kepler and Earth. Around 2060, the Earth’s gravity will pull on Kepler to such an extent that the telescope will go into a faster orbit around the sun and return to Earth.

It was already clear that the end was near for the Kepler space telescope. The spacecraft has been put into sleep mode several times in recent months because it was difficult to determine exactly how much fuel was left. These fuel-saving operations were carried out in the hope of having enough fuel left to maneuver the spacecraft’s antenna toward Earth so that the most recent data could still be transmitted.

NASA’s Thomas Zurbuchen says Kepler has exceeded all expectations. According to him, Kepler showed us how many planets are outside our solar system, effectively creating a new field of scientific research.

Kepler launched on March 6, 2009 and has discovered a total of 2,662 exoplanets. The mission took years longer than anticipated. After four years, the primary goals had been achieved and some gyroscopic flywheels gave up the ghost, making orientation difficult. However, as of May 2014, Kepler’s mission resumed, changing the telescope’s field of view every three months and using sunlight pressure to stabilize the spacecraft.

It is obvious that, based on the data from the spacecraft, even more exoplanets will be discovered in the coming years. While Kepler focused on a relatively limited area with 150,000 stars, the unofficial successor TESS will focus on a much larger area. Launched in April, this new space telescope has already started searching for exoplanets.