Kepler's Exoplanet Hunt On Hold Until 2011

[2552]

http://blogs.discovery.com/space_disco/2009/10/keplers-exoplanet-hunt-on-hold-until-2011.html

Just when the extra-solar planet hunt seemed to be going so well, NASA has announced that the orbital Earth-like exoplanet hunter will not be able to detect a world like our own until 2011 at the earliest.

..

The amplifiers in the space telescope's electronics are used to boost the signal from the CCDs. If there is any electronic noise between the light being received and the data being sent to Earth, the signal of transiting exoplanets may be lost in the fuzz. Unfortunately, three of these amplifiers are producing unacceptable levels of noise, prompting the Kepler team to evaluate their options.

Epic fail.

 

[garyw]

Hardly a fail, they found the problem and are fixing it on the ground. Better that than launching it only to find it's useless and unlike hubble, not possible for it to be repaired.

 

[RisingFury]

I hope they find a solution before 2011. I'm sick of waiting...

... don't ask me how I feel about New Horizons...