Kepler Space Telescope is about to stop working

NASA put Kepler in hibernation to make sure this telescope has enough fuel to send new information to Earth.

Kepler, the space telescope helps detect 70% of the 3,750 extrasolar planets known to date, so little fuel that NASA brought it into a similarly dormant state, Space reported on July 6. This is to ensure Kepler has enough fuel to send the latest data early next month.

To transmit data, the telescope must direct the largest antenna to Earth and transmit during the allocation of the Deep Space Network (DSN) in early August, NASA said. DSN is the NASA radio telescope system used to exchange information with spacecraft or telescopes operating in space.

The Kepler space telescope has a great contribution to space science.(Photo: NASA).

Before this time, Kepler will keep stable in a safe state without using fuel. On August 2, the team will wake up this telescope, control it in the right direction and transfer data to Earth.

Kepler was launched into space in March 2009 with the goal of helping astronomers detect Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. This telescope detects the outer planet because light changes as it travels through the star's surface.

During the main task, Kepler observed about 150,000 stars simultaneously, paying attention to changing light. This work lasted until May 2013, when the second telescope flywheel was broken. Engineers found a way to stabilize Kepler and by 2014, the telescope began to perform an extensive task called K2 .

With K2, Kepler continues to search for extraterrestrial as well as studying many celestial bodies and other phenomena in the universe. It performs campaigns that last about 80 days, the focus of each campaign will be slightly different. Kepler completed 18 such campaigns. If there is enough fuel after August 2, campaign 19 will start on August 6, according to NASA.

NASA once reported that Kepler is running out of fuel in March and may have to stop operating after a few months. Refueling is not possible because the telescope moves around the Sun, far away from Earth.