NASA's alien-hunter has gone dark and scientists aren't sure why

Discussion in 'Science' started by trucker, Oct 24, 2018.

  1. trucker

    trucker Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Last edited: Oct 24, 2018
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  2. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

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    Engineers working on Kepler have been worried about the spacecraft's fuel supplies since this spring, and in recent months the telescope has conducted only partial observing campaigns, then fallen asleep to ensure it has enough juice to send the data back to Earth.

    But sleep modes can't fix the underlying problem, which is that Kepler is running low on fuel. Earlier this year NASA announced a second challenge for the mission, that the telescope was having trouble pointing itself precisely.)

    Despite the recent struggles and impending end of the mission, Kepler has been an overwhelming success and is now an iconic NASA project. When the spacecraft first launched in 2009, its mission was designed to last just one year. Instead, its mission continued until 2013, when mechanical troubles meant engineers had to replan its mission into a successor campaign called K2.

    Between the two missions, the spacecraft has identified more than 2,650 confirmed planets orbiting stars, proving that such exoplanets are far more common than scientists had ever dreamed.

    While Kepler will leave large shoes to fill, a new telescope has already begun taking over its work hunting for alien planets. That mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, launched in April and has already identified two candidate planets — of what scientists say may be 10,000 in the first two years.
    https://www.space.com/42241-kepler-exoplanet-space-telescope-offline-again.html
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2018
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  3. DennisTate

    DennisTate Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The technology that beings limited to four dimensions of space - time would come up with..... would be like children's toys in comparison to what a being of even seventh dimensional space - time energy and vibrational level would come up with........ even on their worst day?!

    I think?!

    http://www.politicalforum.com/index...begin-in-matter-or-fundamental-energy.465052/
     

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