NASA puts Kepler telescope back into sleep mode for data download

The American space agency NASA has put the Kepler space telescope back into a sleep mode. This is done to save fuel, in the hope that recent data can still be downloaded.

NASA says it has determined, based on data received, that the ability to precisely target Kepler has been further reduced. Based on this, the telescope is put into a sleep mode in which no fuel is consumed. This has already been done in August and July.

At the end of August, Kepler started the nineteenth observation mission, in which the universe is searched for exoplanets. NASA hopes to be able to download the data collected during this process on October 10, if it succeeds in pointing the antenna towards Earth. This requires fuel and the current sleep mode should contribute to that. Due to the uncertainty about the amount of fuel left, it is not certain that the download will be successful. If successful, a new observation mission will then be started.

The telescope can no longer be precisely aimed at the stars to be studied after one of the four gyroscopic flywheels failed in 2012. In 2013, a second flywheel also gave up the ghost. For targeting Kepler, NASA now has to rely on the remaining flywheels, the thrusters and the pressure of the solar wind.

Kepler has discovered 2652 exoplanets so far. While this space telescope focuses on a relatively limited area of ​​150,000 stars, its unofficial successor TESS focuses on a much larger area. This new space telescope was launched in April and is already searching for exoplanets.