Tagged: Kepler

Space telescope’s mission to find planets outside the Solar System is probably over. NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is not only the most prolific exoplanet detector ever; it is — or was — a marvel of engineering. Its 1.4-metre mirror funnels starlight to a 95-megapixel camera, capable...

Spacecraft could continue to hunt for planets — or take on alternative tasks, such as asteroid spotting. NASA just can’t quit Kepler. On 15 August, the agency ann­ounced that it would stop trying to revive the failed reaction wheels that gave the planet-hunting telescope its...