{"id":2303,"date":"2013-05-15T21:36:19","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T21:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2013-05-15T21:36:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T21:36:19","slug":"kepler-space-telescope-loses-reaction-wheel-exoplanet-searching-crippled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=2303","title":{"rendered":"Kepler space telescope loses reaction wheel – exoplanet searching crippled"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the loss of another reaction wheel, he Kepler<\/a> space telescope has lost the ability to maintain the stable orientation needed for observing stars to detect transits of exoplanets: Kepler Mission Manager Update – NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The managers of the project, however, insist that the mission is not finished and they will still be able to do some interesting science with the spacecraft. There is also a lot of data left to analyze.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, for small planets with orbit periods like the earth or Mars, the longer the observation time the better. A earth sized planet only decreases the star’s light by about 0.01% when it transits across the face of the planet. So the more transits, the better. At least three transits are needed for confirmation of an exoplanet. Kepler began observations in 2009 so there would have been 3-4 transits at an earth size orbit but only 1-2 for a Mars orbit.<\/p>\n

There was a NASA briefing this afternoon on the situation and some notes were posted at<\/p>\n