NASA puts Kepler telescope back into sleep mode due to low fuel level

NASA has put the systems of the Kepler space telescope into a sleep mode. The American space agency also temporarily did this in July. This is done because the telescope has very little fuel.

NASA reports that it is unclear how much fuel Kepler still has on board. The space agency reports that it successfully sent another amount of data to Earth on August 9; then the telescope was put into sleep mode. We are now looking at the state of Kepler and what next steps can be taken.

Kepler was also put into hibernation on July 6. This was done in preparation for sending the data collected during the eighteenth observation campaign. To send the data, the antenna has to be maneuvered in the direction of the earth, which requires fuel.

These campaigns last eighty days. It is unclear whether, in view of the small amount of fuel, a nineteenth reconnaissance mission will be launched. According to the planning, this should have already started on August 6.

After one of the four gyroscopic flywheels failed in 2012, a second flywheel also gave up the ghost in 2013. As a result, the telescope could no longer be aimed precisely at the stars to be studied. The flywheels still worked, but they caused too much friction, making it difficult to orient the telescope. From May 2014, Kepler’s mission, which included the search for exoplanets, was resumed. There, the pressure of the sunlight was used to stabilize the spacecraft.

Kepler has so far discovered 2,652 exoplanets, 325 of which have been mapped since May 2014. 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 recently begun its search for exoplanets.