The Kepler spacecraft has officially started its second life, - TopicsExpress



          

The Kepler spacecraft has officially started its second life, taking data while driving on two wheels. Dubbed K2, the repurposed spacecraft is busy taking science data at this very minute. NASAs Astrophysics Division Director, Paul Hertz, announced at this weeks meeting of the American Astronomical Society: Our 2014 Senior Review endorsed NASA Keplers K2 mission. They started science operations last Friday. Meanwhile, scientists announced theyve measured the mass of one of Keplers planets. And its a whopper! Kepler-10c is the Godzilla of rocky planets, with a mass 17 times larger than Earth and a radius 2.35 times that of Earth. Its the largest known rocky planet, and weve no idea how it formed. Truth is stranger than fiction. The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment. - Johannes Kepler
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 23:53:15 +0000

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