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NASA Abandons Kepler Repairs, Looks To the Future
cylonlover writes "If NASA has anything to say about it, Kepler is down, but not out. At a press teleconference on Thursday it announced that it has abandoned efforts to repair the damaged unmanned probe, which was designed to search for extrasolar planets and is no longer steady enough to continue its hunt. But the space agency is looking into alternative missions for the spacecraft based on its remaining capabilities. 'On Aug. 8, engineers conducted a system-level performance test to evaluate Kepler's current capabilities. They determined wheel 2, which failed last year, can no longer provide the precision pointing necessary for science data collection. The spacecraft was returned to its point rest state, which is a stable configuration where Kepler uses thrusters to control its pointing with minimal fuel use.'"
as with most satellite missions gone wrong -- its was the gyroscope.... remember it was replaced on Hubble a few times... its seems to be the weakest link in a lot of missions as it has to be a moving part to induce counter rotation in the satellite. it's only feasible to put so many on board ... so maybe a redesign of this one part will save future missions ... but maybe its time to think outside the box now that we know ion drives work a kg of propellant and three exhuast ports would fix this issue with new tech
Other than that it was an awesome mission.