Kepler, NASA's legendary space telescope, will be officially "retired" after 9 years in space. It has helped to find more than 2600 exoplanets that have potential living conditions.
NASA overcame the Kepler mission as the telescope's fuel is exhausted. Without him he can not correct his orbit as well as take pictures. That is why the telescope is left in its current safe orbit, which is far from the Earth and does not pose a threat to the planet.
Kepler has repeatedly exceeded all of our expectations and helped us to study and seek life both in the solar system and beyond. He showed us how many planets he could have in space and gave us a completely new field of research. His discoveries shed light on our place in the universe ... ", commented the US space agency.
The Kepler's keepsake is taken over by the Tes space telescope, which was orbited by NASA in April 2018. His task is also to find Earth-related planets in the habitable zone. Unlike Kepler, however, Tess has a 6.5 meter diameter mirror that adds much more light. The dimensions of the telescope itself are 1.5 m to 1.2 m (without the solar panels). His weight is only 362 kg. It is equipped with four wide-angle cameras and a sunshade to stop direct light while they are operating.