Tag: exoplanets
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NASA’s Kepler telescope nears end of mission
Artist’s concept of the Kepler observatory. Credit: NASA Nearly a decade after launching from Cape Canaveral on a planet-hunting quest that has netted 2,650 new confirmed worlds beyond our solar system, NASA’s Kepler telescope has paused its observations after on-board sensors detected it is running low on fuel. Kepler’s dwindling fuel supply was not a…
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NASA’s Kepler probe suspends planet hunt to download data as fuel runs near empty
News Brief: NASA has hit the pause button on observations by its most prolific planet-hunting probe, the Kepler space telescope, so that it can download 51 days’ worth science data without interruption. The reason? Kepler’s fuel tanks are close to empty. After the download, Kepler will resume data gathering — that is, assuming there’s any fuel…
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It’s full of stars! NASA’s planet-hunting TESS probe sends back its first test image
This test image from one of the four cameras aboard the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, captures a swath of the southern sky along the plane of our galaxy. (NASA / MIT / TESS Photo) One month after its launch, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has sent back an initial test image that shows…
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NASA’s new planet-hunting satellite begins climb into science orbit
Artist’s illustration of TESS in space. Credit: NASA/Goddard Looping back near Earth for the first time since its launch one week ago, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite fired its thrusters early Wednesday to begin boosting its orbit toward the moon for a May 17 gravity assist maneuver that will help catapult the probe into its…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with TESS
Look back on last week’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. The TESS mission will search for planets orbiting the stars in our solar neighborhood, finding worlds that are prime candidates for follow-up observations by more powerful telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope set…
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After “terrific” launch, TESS nears first major orbit-raising burn
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite in orbit. Credit: Orbital ATK NASA’s new planet-hunting TESS observatory completed its first post-launch thruster firing Saturday, setting up for a big boost Wednesday that will send the spacecraft toward the moon for a flyby next month, the next maneuvers in a two-month process to reach the…
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All-sky surveyor launched from Cape Canaveral on the hunt for exoplanets
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 6:51 p.m. EDT (2251 GMT) with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II/Spaceflight Now NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, built to find planets around other stars that are close enough for detailed follow-ups by future telescopes, launched Wednesday into a unique high-altitude orbit on top…
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Falcon 9 / TESS launch replays
Cameras in various locations at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center capture the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s TESS planet-hunting telescope. Video: NASA TV.
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SpaceX launches NASA’s TESS spacecraft on mission to seek out alien planets
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lofts NASA’s TESS probe into space. (NASA via YouTube) SpaceX has launched NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, kicking off a mission aimed at surveying nearly the entire sky for exoplanets. The probe rose into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sent up from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in…
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Video: Falcon 9 stands at the launch pad
The Falcon 9 rocket stands on launch complex 40 on 16 April as SpaceX prepares to launch NASA’s TESS spacecraft on a mission to seek out new planets beyond our Solar System. Video: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now.