NASA's Kepler Spacecraft, Finder Of Distant Worlds Large And Small, May Be Finished
Kepler Space Telescope Kepler is designed to look for Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like stars in a temperate "Goldilocks zone," where temperatures are right for liquid water. It stares at a patch of around 156,000 stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra and notes teeny blips in their brightness, which could indicate planets passing in front of the stars' faces. NASA A critical failure in Kepler's alignment may spell the end for the storied planet hunter. The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment. --Johannes Kepler The storied Kepler space telescope, finder of scorched baby Mercuries, a real Tatooine, gigantic Jupiters and possible other Earths, might be on its last planet-hunting breath. The telescope put itself into safe mode yesterday and its control wheels may have failed, meaning it...