NASA retires the Kepler Space Telescope

[James Kerman]

NASA announced on Oct. 30, 2018, that Kepler has run out of propellant and is being retired within its current and safe orbit.

Quote

After nine years in deep space collecting data that indicate our sky to be filled with billions of hidden planets – more planets even than stars – NASA’s Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system, many of which could be promising places for life.

"As NASA's first planet-hunting mission, Kepler has wildly exceeded all our expectations and paved the way for our exploration and search for life in the solar system and beyond," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Not only did it show us how many planets could be out there, it sparked an entirely new and robust field of research that has taken the science community by storm. Its discoveries have shed a new light on our place in the universe, and illuminated the tantalizing mysteries and possibilities among the stars.” 

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-retires-kepler-space-telescope-passes-planet-hunting-torch

 

[Ultimate Steve]

F

[DerekL1963]

It doesn't say when they're retiring it...  but it's just about at EOL anyhow.  They've been expecting it to run out of hydrazine any day now for a couple of months, and it's currently in sleep mode due to an unknown fault.

Timely...  this was just published yesterday.  http://thespacereview.com/article/3595/1

[Scotius]

It was to be expected. with all technical problems Kepler faced recently. Still sad, but it's the way of things. I think Kepler returned a lot of bang for the buck it costed Hundreds and hundreds of exoplanets found... that's a heck of legacy to leave

[Gargamel]

Kepler led the way for TESS and other's.    She will be missed, but good to see she will leave a lasting legacy. 

[XB-70A]

Such a "short" (still, 2.5 times longer than planned) but great career.

Also, Kepler is good to stay a long time up there:

 

Gaia, Swift, and TESS will keep up the good work.

[Spaceception]

Don't forget PLATO and ARIEL :) May Kepler's discoveries live long into the future.

[cubinator]

2 hours ago, Spaceception said:

Don't forget PLATO and ARIEL May Kepler's discoveries live long into the future.

These are some of the places we will go first if we ever achieve interstellar travel. Mad props to the Kepler team, they must be very proud.

[YNM]

For a 9 year life, it was a good 9 years.

[Ho Lam Kerman]

Godspeed Kepler! You will be missed by many people across the globe! 

The loss saddens me on a more personal level: I've been working on Kepler data myself via a citizen science webpage.