Slashdot Mirror
NASA's Planet-Hunting Kepler Space Telescope Is Running Out of Fuel (mashable.com)
Charlie Sobeck, the system engineer for the Kepler space telescope mission, said in a NASA statement that Kepler is running low on gas. According to Sobekc, it only has "several months" before it reaches the end of the its life. Mashable reports: NASA's Kepler spacecraft has been peering deep into the Milky Way galaxy for nearly a decade. It has spotted over 2,500 confirmed planets orbiting distant stars, and over 2,500 more possible worlds are waiting to be confirmed. Thirty of these confirmed planets live inside their host stars' habitable zones, places where liquid water could exist like it does on Earth. NASA placed the Kepler telescope 94 million miles away from Earth, in an orbit around the sun. This way, Earth's gravity and reflected light don't interfere with Kepler's precise measurements of distant planets. Out there, in the void, it's extremely unlikely that Kepler will become a threatening piece of space junk that could pose collision hazards to other satellites. Although Kepler will soon be spent and left to its long, lonely orbit in space, the spacecraft will soon be replaced by another exoplanet-hunting space telescope, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). TESS is set to launch into space on April 16.
Yes, there have been concerns raised about spacecraft that contain plutonium power sources, but it's not about polluting space. The issue that's raised is if there's a problem during the launch, the casing for the nuclear power source ruptures, and radioactive materials are dispersed in the atmosphere. The worst case scenarios have very low probabilities, and the impacts would actually be fairly low, but it's enough to alarm people. I'm not aware that anyone has complained about the risk of these spacecraft polluting space, so that's simply incorrect.
By the way, lots of other spacecraft that contain plutonium for nuclear power also contain other fuel. Spacecraft with nuclear power sources are generally those with missions to the outer solar system, where solar power would be insufficient to power the instruments. Kepler doesn't contain plutonium for nuclear power because it's close to the sun where solar power is sufficient to provide enough power for the instruments. However, all of these spacecraft do contain other fuel for the purpose of providing thrust. Even spacecraft like Cassini-Huygens and New Horizons need a source of fuel for providing thrust in addition to their nuclear power source. Voyager 1 and 2 have nuclear power sources to power their instruments, but also used hydrazine for their thrusters. Kepler is no different in the need to have fuel for its thrusters, and that's what's in short supply. However, it doesn't contain a nuclear power source because it's close enough to the sun that solar power can keep the instruments running.
And Kepler was equipped with extra fuel for its thrusters, as a contingency. This has actually enabled Kepler to continue operating well beyond its original mission.
I actually hope you're trolling, because your post is incorrect in many ways.
NASA has a page with frequently asked questions about Kepler's fuel status. From that page:
Why wasn’t Kepler designed to be refueled?
NASA decided to put Kepler in an orbit around the Sun that is well beyond the influence of the Earth and Moon to simplify operations and ensure an extremely quiet, stable environment for scientific observations. Well beyond our reach, Kepler compensated by flying considerably more fuel than was necessary to meet the mission objectives.
To summarize, the location of the spacecraft makes a refueling mission impractical and expensive.
Yes, it's running out of fuel but it's also been operating for about a decade. "In 2013, Kepler’s primary mission ended when a second reaction wheel broke" which means this won't really be a big loss since it's been minimally functional for good while. The good news is that the James Webb Space Telescope is on track to be operational in about 18 months.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Rockets need a mass to provide force. Doesn't matter if it has power if it is out of reaction mass.
Kepler is pretty much worn out at this point. Aside from its lack of fuel, it's reaction wheels are long dead (this is why it's running out of fuel). The reaction wheels are what allowed it to keep itself oriented precisely. Also, it's electronics are pretty much worn out from being bombarded by cosmic radiation, its solar panels are going to be wearing out. Lastly, while it's been an incredibly valuable instrument, it's instruments have done pretty much all they can at this point.
In short, it's time to retire her and replace it with the next generation.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...