I don't know where the full press release has gone, every time I hit the link it said the page had been moved?
Quote from: Star One on 04/18/2013 06:54 pmI don't know where the full press release has gone, every time I hit the link it said the page had been moved?http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-62-kepler-69.htmlbtw Chris, feel free to reuse anything in my rant above
Quote from: jcm on 04/18/2013 07:04 pmQuote from: Star One on 04/18/2013 06:54 pmI don't know where the full press release has gone, every time I hit the link it said the page had been moved?http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-62-kepler-69.htmlbtw Chris, feel free to reuse anything in my rant aboveI am still getting the same page not found.
This is huge news. Likely rocky world in habitable zone. Next step would be to get future telescopes on line to get more data on its atmosphere and mass. But that's for another board topic.Congratulations Kepler!
I like the beginning of CNN's story on this:"(CNN) -- In the midst of chaos here on Earth, scientists are finding hope for life on other planets."http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/planet-discovery/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenewsSad, but true. At least the bravery of others continues to show remarkable potential for our species, both in Boston & in Texas
I am seeing rumors that Kepler has went into safe mode again and may well spell the end of its exoplanet hunting mission. Hope that this is not what happened.....
Doesn't sound good. I suspect the dodgy reaction wheel has died. If so it is sadly the end of the primary mission:-(
So what kind of redundancy does Kepler have for its reaction wheel system?Is there a potential case for adding more redundancy for this in future similar spacecraft?
One of the mission's four reaction wheels stopped working last year, and officials are worried another wheel could fail at any time. Three wheels are needed to keep the observatory pointed toward a field of stars looking for signs of planets.
Quote from: jebbo on 05/15/2013 07:31 pmDoesn't sound good. I suspect the dodgy reaction wheel has died. If so it is sadly the end of the primary mission:-(Entered Point Rest safe mode after loss of pointing accuracy. Reaction wheel 4 has stalled and won't restart, so likely the end of exoplanet data gathering. Still lots of analysis to do though.