{"id":18448,"date":"2018-07-06T17:50:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T09:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-kepler-probe-suspends-planet-hunt-to-download-data-as-fuel-runs-near-empty\/"},"modified":"2018-07-06T17:50:27","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T09:50:27","slug":"nasas-kepler-probe-suspends-planet-hunt-to-download-data-as-fuel-runs-near-empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-kepler-probe-suspends-planet-hunt-to-download-data-as-fuel-runs-near-empty\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Kepler probe suspends planet hunt to download data as fuel runs near empty"},"content":{"rendered":"

News Brief:<\/strong> 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\u2019 worth science data without interruption. The reason? Kepler\u2019s fuel tanks are close to empty. After the download, Kepler will resume data gathering \u2014 that is, assuming there\u2019s any fuel left. Kepler has detected 2,650 confirmed planets, including 24 planets that were added to the list just last week. The data yet to be analyzed should yield hundreds more. Even though the nine-year-old telescope has gone far beyond its original one-year mission, astronomers are mourning its impending demise. There\u2019s consolation in the fact that NASA\u2019s planet-hunting TESS telescope is ramping up after its launch in April. Here\u2019s a sampling of the reaction:<\/p>\n