Broadcast 2014 (Special Edition)

Guests: John Batchelor, William (Bill) Borucki, Dr. David Livingston: Topics: Kepler Space Telescope, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We do not permit the commercial use of any Space Show program or part thereof, nor do we permit Space Show programs to be edited, placed on YouTube, or other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted in news articles, papers, academic & research work but must be cited or referenced in the proper citation format. Contact Dr. Livingston for questions about our copyright and trademark policies which we do enforce. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. During our 11 minute plus discussion with William (Bill) Borucki, PI for the Kepler Space Telescope mission, we talked about the Kepler problems including the gyros, stability wheels, power, solar pressure, and even Kepler related budget issues if the mission gets redefined as a result of the spacecraft problems now being worked on by a special Kepler team. Kepler is now in a safe mode, conserving power and no longer capturing new data. It may take months to a few years to see if it can be repaired or if it can sustain a modified mission with other goals than planet finding. We also talked about upcoming planet finding missions around our sun and elsewhere. One, TESS, is due to launch around 2017. The other, TPF, is due to launch in the mid 2020's. Our guest said that there is about 18 to 24 months of data still in the pipeline awaiting analysis. For sure Kepler is not through just yet! Please post any comments/questions you might have on The Space Show blog. You can contact any of us through drspace@thespaceshow.com.