Space
Breaking: Mission Emergency Declared for NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft 75 Million Miles from Earth
Sam Dastidar
First Posted: Apr 09, 2016 08:03 AM EDT
NASA's spacecraft for planet hunting, Kepler, has been declared as mission emergency after it switched into emergency mode during flight. NASA engineers found the irregularity just a few days ago; right before they tried to maneuver the spacecraft to point towards the Milky Way's center, for a new observation project. April 4 saw the last regular contact with Kepler, when it was observed to be operating according to normal expectations and was in good health.
Following the recent anomaly, the Kepler team has been given priority access to NASA's deep space telecommunications to enable them to get the spacecraft back to its normal operative mode. Emergency mode translates to lowest operational mode for a spacecraft, which results in it consuming more fuel than normal. Such a development may adversely affect the continuity of the Kepler in its pursuit of new planets.
This, however, is not the first time that Kepler has suffered from problems in its journey. The spacecraft was launched in 2009 to look for exploplanets, i.e. planets outside the Solar System, a goal that it accomplished by 2012 by discovering nearly 5000 such planets. In July of the same year, the Kepler had a malfunction in one of its four gyroscopic reaction wheels that help the spacecraft make precise aims. The Kepler also lost a second wheel in May 2013. The occurrences ended the spacecraft's primary mission. However in 2014, NASA could extend the spacecraft's operative condition by using pressure from the Sun to help balance the spacecraft.
According to NASA, since the Kepler spacecraft is about 75 million miles away from Earth, it will take up to 13 minutes for communication signals to travel to and fro at the speed of light. The time lapse makes it tougher for engineers to fix the issue. However, it is the priority at the moment.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
More on SCIENCEwr
First Posted: Apr 09, 2016 08:03 AM EDT
NASA's spacecraft for planet hunting, Kepler, has been declared as mission emergency after it switched into emergency mode during flight. NASA engineers found the irregularity just a few days ago; right before they tried to maneuver the spacecraft to point towards the Milky Way's center, for a new observation project. April 4 saw the last regular contact with Kepler, when it was observed to be operating according to normal expectations and was in good health.
Following the recent anomaly, the Kepler team has been given priority access to NASA's deep space telecommunications to enable them to get the spacecraft back to its normal operative mode. Emergency mode translates to lowest operational mode for a spacecraft, which results in it consuming more fuel than normal. Such a development may adversely affect the continuity of the Kepler in its pursuit of new planets.
This, however, is not the first time that Kepler has suffered from problems in its journey. The spacecraft was launched in 2009 to look for exploplanets, i.e. planets outside the Solar System, a goal that it accomplished by 2012 by discovering nearly 5000 such planets. In July of the same year, the Kepler had a malfunction in one of its four gyroscopic reaction wheels that help the spacecraft make precise aims. The Kepler also lost a second wheel in May 2013. The occurrences ended the spacecraft's primary mission. However in 2014, NASA could extend the spacecraft's operative condition by using pressure from the Sun to help balance the spacecraft.
According to NASA, since the Kepler spacecraft is about 75 million miles away from Earth, it will take up to 13 minutes for communication signals to travel to and fro at the speed of light. The time lapse makes it tougher for engineers to fix the issue. However, it is the priority at the moment.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone