Kepler Scientists Reflect on the Now Retired Mission

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope recently ran out of fuel, preventing it from aligning its antenna toward Earth and maintaining communication. NASA knew this day was coming for a while, but given the circumstances, NASA officially said its goodbye last week when it sent commands to Kepler that would shut it down for good.

In this video, various scientists involved with the Kepler Space Telescope’s development reflect on what it was like to work on the project and what motivated them to become a part of it.

The Kepler Space Telescope was an overachiever, and lasted far longer in space than mission scientists initially thought it would. Exoplanets were the primary focus of the mission, and Kepler found thousands of them orbiting distant stars.

Kepler’s Legacy lives on in NASA’s new TESS spacecraft, which will continue to monitor outer space for the presence of exoplanets.