Exoplanets – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Kepler telescope recovered from spacecraft emergency

April 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is stable and out of emergency mode, officials said Monday, and the observatory is downlinking data to help engineers determine what caused it to suspend science operations last week.

Kepler space telescope in emergency mode

April 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

Mission controllers are trying to diagnose a problem that put NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting observatory in emergency mode nearly 75 million miles from Earth this week.

NASA moves forward with mission using spy satellite telescope

February 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA has formally approved plans — a year ahead of schedule — for an infrared space telescope launching around 2024 to record unique wide-angle views of the cosmos, seeking answers to questions about mysterious dark energy and searching for habitable worlds around other stars.

NASA’s next flagship space telescope to get formal start

January 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA officials expect to officially kick off development in February of a multibillion-dollar observatory recycling a grounded top secret spy satellite telescope capable of studying dark energy and directly resolving planets around other stars.

Kepler telescope spots Earth-like ‘cousin’

July 23, 2015 William Harwood

Analysis of data from NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has revealed a near Earth-size world orbiting in the habitable zone of a sun-like star, scientists announced Thursday, the closest match yet in the ongoing hunt for planets similar in size to Earth where life, as humans understand it, might have a chance to evolve.

Kepler’s data catalog exceeds 1,000 confirmed planets

January 8, 2015 Stephen Clark

Astronomers culling imagery from NASA’s Kepler space telescope have found eight new worlds around other stars, raising the number of verified discoveries made by Kepler to more than 1,000 planets.

Planet-hunting telescope to launch on Falcon 9 rocket

December 21, 2014 Stephen Clark

NASA’s decision to launch a satellite to search for planets around other stars on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2017 will allow officials to cancel plans to order a solid-fueled kick motor to send the telescope into a unique high-altitude orbit, the mission’s top scientist said.