Kepler telescope has discovered and identified more than 2,300 exoplanets since its commissioning in 2009 and revived the hopes of one day finding a habitable planet or hosting a form of life.
However, the lighthouse telescope NASA could follow the path of the Herschel telescope has ceased its mission in early May.
cause failure at a gyroscope that prevents the telescope to move to areas of study. A spotted last week, which led to a lockout of the telescope mode to continue to ensure that the position of the solar panels allow it to maintain its power malfunction.
A similar failure had already occurred July 14, 2012 without the NASA considers vital to the project because the telescope is equipped with four gyroscopes to manage its alignment.
The case is more complex this time, especially since it is not possible to send astronauts perform a repair on site (contrary to what had been done on Hubble).
NASA still working on a backup solution that could move toward a reactivation of the first faulty gyroscope.
Although Kepler was to retire early, the mission was a success long before the hour, the results and data were collected far exceeded the most optimistic expectations of the researchers behind the program.
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