On 5/15/13 5:06 AM, Yousuf Khan wrote:
Einstein's Planet: Special Theory of Relativity Helps Astronomers
Discover Kepler-76b | Astronomy | Sci-News.com
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/ar...epler-76b.html


"It was discovered using data obtained with NASA’s Kepler Space
Telescope. Although Kepler was designed to find transiting planets,
Kepler-76b was not identified using the classical transit method of
detecting exoplanets."

Reference:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...f7c_story.html

If engineers can’t find a fix, the failure could mean an end to the
$600 million mission’s search, although the space agency wasn’t ready
to call it quits Wednesday. The telescope has discovered scores of
planets but only two so far are the best candidates for habitable
planets.

“I wouldn’t call Kepler down-and-out just yet,” said NASA sciences
chief John Grunsfeld.

NASA said the spacecraft lost the second of four wheels that control
its orientation in space. With only two working wheels left, it can’t
point at stars with the same precision.

Now “we can’t point where we need to point. We can’t gather data,”
deputy project manager Charles Sobeck told The Associated Press.

Scientists said there’s a backlog of data that they still need to
analyze even if Kepler stopped looking for planets.

“I think the most interesting, exciting discoveries are coming in the
next two years. The mission is not over,” said chief scientist
William Borucki.