It finds other worlds by recording tiny brightness dips caused when a planet crosses a star’s face – like our planet does when it orbits behind the sun.
This comes after Kepler was wildley written off in May 2013 when its steering failed.
That’s what Kepler has been doing in its K2 mission, which NASA greenlit in May 2014.
Kepler principal investigator Bill Borucki said the new mission could find ‘dozens, or maybe even hundreds’ of exoplanets.
GETTY EXPLORER: The Kepler being readied for its mission and blast off in 2009
GETTY SPECIAL MISSION: The spacecraft is tasked with finding planets where aliens may live
NASA THE FINAL FRONTIER: Kepler in space
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