Kepler on verge of death
The Kepler space telescope is now almost out of fuel, and scientists have ceased science observations to devote the telescope’s last days downloading its last 51 days of data.
The telescope lasted far longer than planned, and discovered thousands of exoplanets. Its archives will be producing new discoveries for decades. And a new exoplanet space telescope, TESS, is already in orbit to take over.
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The Kepler space telescope is now almost out of fuel, and scientists have ceased science observations to devote the telescope’s last days downloading its last 51 days of data.
The telescope lasted far longer than planned, and discovered thousands of exoplanets. Its archives will be producing new discoveries for decades. And a new exoplanet space telescope, TESS, is already in orbit to take over.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Regular readers can support Behind The Black with a contribution via paypal:
If Paypal doesn't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Any word on when it is expected to reenter and where the anticipated impact will be? Or will the last fuel burn be to send it to a distant parking orbit?
@Col Beausabre
Kepler will not reenter anytime soon, as in multiples of its lifetime thus far, if ever. It actually has another deadline coming up soon even if the fuel hadn’t ran out before. It is not orbiting Earth, but the Sun slightly slightly further away from it Than Earth does (by 1.33% on average). So it has gradually gotten further and further away from Earth. Which slowly has made radio communications with it harder, but still fully useful within its expected fuel lifetime. They could easily have given it an orbit that never hits Earth, and I think they would prefer that, but I’m not sure.