Kepler spacecraft went into emergency mode

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has gone into emergency mode (EM) some 75 million miles from Earth.

The lowest operational mode EM of the spacecraft was discovered during a scheduled contact for undertaking microlensing observing campaign.

Initial indications shows that Kepler had entered EM before mission operations began the manoeuvre to orient the spacecraft to point towards the centre of the Milky Way.

Kepler spacecraft hunts for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. It was launched in March 2009.

Since its launch, the mission has been incredibly successful and has led to finding of more than 1,000 alien planets of which half are exoplanets to be ever discovered.

Current Affairs 8th April, 2016
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