Testing and Re-checking of Kepler Spacecraft Commences

Planet-hunters can breathe a sigh of relief: Kepler is back. Controllers for the telescope have taken it out of deep emergency mode and are now checking its data and testing its systems to understand why the spacecraft shut itself down last week. It was about to commence a new survey searching for microlensing events when it closed up shop. The telescope will eventually resume full operations, after a full check-out by controllers. (For more information, check out the NASA Kepler page.)

This kind of recovery, performed from millions and millions of kilometers away, is always both exciting and suspenseful. It’s exciting because the controllers can do it and figure things out from here on Earth. They know its systems quite well, and likely have contingency plans that spring into use when these things happen. It’s also suspenseful. That’s because they’re doing it from a distance. Until controllers actually get a response from a stricken spacecraft — whether it’s in a distant orbit or on another planet — there’s no way of knowing if the systems will recover. Once the data confirm attempts at recovery and repair, it’s breath-holding time. Luckily, this time controllers were able to deal with the problems. And, the mission goes on!

We’ve seen this sort of recovery with spacecraft many times. I watched in 1981 as controllers attempted to fix the Voyager 2 scan platform at Saturn. And, we’ve all seen as spacecraft at Mars have run into problems. Those are also among the “ultimate” diagnostic challenges for Earth-based controllers. The rovers on Mars ARE semi-autonomous, but if something goes wrong, a human has to step in and make some judgments about what to do next. That’s why humans will always be part of the equation when it comes to working with robotics in space exploration.