It turns out that Kepler, NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft, has recovered from the glitch that sent it into emergency mode just a few days ago. Scientists at NASA have announced that the spacecraft has returned to normalcy.
Last week, the Kepler spacecraft entered Emergency Mode (EM). This particular mode requires a lot of fuel to burn and began about 14 hours before a planned maneuver to orient the spacecraft toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy for Campaign 9. The researchers ruled out the actual maneuver for the change to EM but will be investigating further to see exactly what caused the spacecraft to enter that state.
This is the first time that Kepler has encountered an EM event during its seven years in space. This is particularly significant since Kepler is now beginning yet another mission.
Kepler will now turn toward Campaign 9. This particular mission includes examining the galactic center, which may tell us a bit more about our Milky Way Galaxy.
The researchers plan to collect data from Kepler in order to fully assess what may have gone wrong with it. This may tell them if the spacecraft is healthy enough to begin the K2 mission's microlensing observing campaign.
Kepler has already detected nearly 5,000 exoplanets. Of these, more than 1,000 exoplanets have been confirmed. The K2 mission is the second of Kepler's missions, which it began in 2014. This extended mission includes searching for exoplanets while introducing new research opportunities to study young stars, supernovae and many other astronomical objects.
It appears as if Kepler will be just fine due to the quick response of engineers during this past weekend. With that said, researchers will have to find out what may have caused Kepler to enter EM in the first place. This, in turn, will allow scientists to learn how to avoid that particular mode in the future, especially as Kepler soars further and further away from Earth. It takes long minutes for NASA to communicate with the spacecraft, which means that response time isn't immediate and any movements need to be planned carefully.
For more information about the Kepler mission, you can visit NASA's website.
