The Kepler space telescope returned to operation

Beginning later this month, scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center will deploy Kepler's next mission.

The Kepler Space Telescope, the satellite launched in 2009 and tasked with hunting for Earth-like planets, has been taking a break for nearly a year.

At the end of 2011, NASA confirmed the first planet Kepler-22b is in the "area that can nourish life" - (Photo: UPI / NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech)

However, NASA scientists have recently made a temporary adjustment, preparing for Kepler's return.

It is known that Kepler lost his ability to balance in the spring of last year after two of its four wheels were broken.

The wheels play a key role in stabilizing the telescope's imaging device and pointing it in the right direction. With the other two wheels, Kepler was completely out of control.

Space.com quoted Kepler Project Manager Charlie Sobeck, saying that passing the new fund to Kepler has extended the telescope's operational life by another two years, promising to expand the discovery frontier to NASA's next missions.

Since coming to orbit, Kepler has discovered more than 3,800 planetary candidates, and 960 of these have been confirmed by NASA scientists.