{"id":323,"date":"2013-01-31T06:24:28","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T06:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=323"},"modified":"2013-01-31T06:24:28","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T06:24:28","slug":"kepler-planet-hunter-back-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=323","title":{"rendered":"Kepler planet hunter back in action"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kepler<\/a> orbital observatory is back to planet hunting after taking ten days off to give one of its reaction wheels, which had been showing signs of abnormal friction, some days off\u00a0 (see earlier post here<\/a>) : Kepler resumes data collection after safe mode – Spaceflight Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Managers put Kepler into safe mode Jan. 17 when reaction wheel no. 4, one of the spacecraft’s three remaining reaction wheels, showed rising friction. The reaction wheels were spun down and the observatory switched to chemical rocket thrusters to control its attitude for a 10-day “wheel rest” period.<\/p>\n

The wheel rest period was designed to allow the wheel bearings to cool and lubricant to redistribute inside the wheel housings, hopefully resolving the friction issue.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Engineers will review the performance of wheel no. 4 over the next month to evaluate the effectiveness of the wheel rest scheme, NASA said in an update. More wheel rest periods may be needed in the future if the procedure proves effective, according to Sobeck.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kepler orbital observatory is back to planet hunting after taking ten days off to give one of its reaction wheels, which had been showing signs of abnormal friction, some days off\u00a0 (see earlier post here) : Kepler resumes data collection after safe mode – Spaceflight Now Managers put Kepler into safe mode Jan. 17 … Continue reading Kepler planet hunter back in action<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-5d","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3795,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3795","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":0},"title":"Update on efforts to revive the Kepler spacecraft","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The amazing successful exoplanet finding spacecraft Kepler went out of action last May when one of its reaction wheels (basically an electric powered gyroscope) ceased to function properly. The spacecraft has four reaction wheels and needs at least three to point its telescope with sufficient stability and accuracy to carry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reaction wheel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/226xvariable_height\/public\/reaction_wheel.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3178,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3178","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":1},"title":"Kepler Observatory operators will try to heal failed reaction wheels","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There's still some hope for the orbiting Kepler exoplanet searcher: Kepler Mission Manager Update: Preparing for Recovery Operations in Point Rest State (PRS) have continued for the spacecraft. The spacecraft was placed in PRS on May 15, 2013, after the failure of reaction wheel 4. It has been 53 days\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4004,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=4004","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":2},"title":"Kepler must switch to other missions – no reaction wheel fix found","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Efforts to resurrect the broken reaction wheels on the Kepler space observatory have failed. The spacecraft can still do useful science but not exoplanet transit searches, which requires the extremely stable and precise pointing capabilities provided by 3 working reaction wheels. NASA trying to find new use for crippled Kepler\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5453,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5453","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":3},"title":"Kepler team investigating promising method to continue exoplanet searches","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this year the\u00a0Kepler\u00a0orbiting observatory lost the ability to point its telescope with the precision necessary to continue its search for exoplanets as it has done since 2009. With just two reaction wheels working, it was thought that the science with the spacecraft would be extremely limited and probably not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kepler's Second Light: How K2 Will Work","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/673xvariable_height\/public\/k2_explained_25nov_story_0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10209,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10209","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":4},"title":"TESS will hunt for exoplanets starting in 2017","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kepler space observatory proved the effectiveness of the transit technique in\u00a0finding exoplanets. After losing one reaction wheel too many, it was assumed that Kepler was an ex-exoplanet finder. However,\u00a0the clever Kepler scientists and engineers found a way to use\u00a0solar radiation pressure to keep the telescope steady in its viewing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exoplanets"","block_context":{"text":"Exoplanets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/mpViVEO-ymc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6409,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6409","url_meta":{"origin":323,"position":5},"title":"Kepler detects 1st exoplanet with new pointing system + Interview with Sara Seager","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0Kepler Observatory\u00a0suffered a huge blow to its pointing precision last year when one of its reaction wheels malfunctioned. 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