NASA searches for exoplanets with Kepler satellite again

The Kepler Space Telescope is once again searching for exoplanets after a new mission was recently approved. Tests show that the satellite is again able to look stably at part of the universe, after damage had previously been detected.

That reports Space.com. NASA has launched mission K2, which will give Kepler a new lease of life. After a series of tests, Kepler returns to target parts of the universe to discover exoplanets. Individual missions last about eighty days, after which Kepler’s orientation must be changed.

Kepler was damaged beyond repair last year when a second of a total of four gyroscopic flywheels broke. Those flywheels ensure that the satellite can keep its balance. NASA failed to make repairs successfully. That is why a new plan was devised to be able to keep the balance. Kepler is now positioned so that the sun’s photons hit the surface at an edge where two solar panels meet. The pressure is therefore distributed evenly over the surface of Kepler. As a result, the remaining two functional flywheels are sufficient to maintain balance.

In recent weeks, NASA has tested whether the trick to keep Kepler stable works in practice. That turned out to be the case and the K2 mission has now officially started. The plans for the K2 mission were previously approved, which means that the financing is in place for two years.

Kepler was launched in 2009 and put into orbit around the sun. So far, Kepler has contributed to the discovery of 962 exoplanets and new planets are expected to be added in the near future. There is also a lot of data that has not yet been analyzed from before Kepler was damaged. It is therefore expected that many more exoplanets will be found in the near future.