--- title: NASA’s Kepler Fixed After Going Into Emergency Mode in Space description: NASA scientists have fixed one of its spacecrafts after it went into emergency mode, the first "anomalous" event of its kind in seven years. canonical: https://time.com/4288466/nasa-kepler-emergency-mode/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T14:32:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-15T02:29:55.000Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA’s Kepler Fixed After Going Into Emergency Mode In Space og:description: Scientists are trying to repair it from far away og:url: https://time.com/4288466/nasa-kepler-emergency-mode/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4aed0a73a9636ce1/69888e830b72e324056e8e5d/nasa-kepler-spacecraft-deep-space.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: nasa-kepler-spacecraft-deep-space og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA’s Kepler Fixed After Going Into Emergency Mode In Space twitter:description: Scientists are trying to repair it from far away twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4aed0a73a9636ce1/69888e830b72e324056e8e5d/nasa-kepler-spacecraft-deep-space.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft Fixed After Going Into Emergency Mode in Deep Space > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=d4201e98-a77d-4046-ac7e-b36a19296737&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: SpaceX Lands Rocket On Drone Ship [Watch (HLS stream): SpaceX Lands Rocket On Drone Ship](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oh4W13dL.m3u8) (0:40)  _Published 2016-04-09. SpaceX resumed station deliveries for NASA on Friday, and in a double triumph, successfully landed its booster rocket on an ocean platform for the first time._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Updated: Dec 15, 2023 2:29 AM UTCPublished: Apr 11, 2016 2:32 PM UTC  NASA  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Updated: Dec 15, 2023 2:29 AM UTCPublished: Apr 11, 2016 2:32 PM UTC NASA scientists have [repaired](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/mission-manager-update-kepler-recovered-from-emergency-and-stable) one of its spacecrafts after it [went into emergency mode](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/mission-manager-update-kepler-spacecraft-in-emergency-mode), the first “anomalous” event of its kind in its seven years in space. The space agency said its Kepler spacecraft last week kicked into emergency mode. Long-distance efforts on Earth to fix it from nearly 75 million miles away had been slow, mission manager Charlie Sobeck said in a statement, but engineers successfully recovered it Sunday when it reached a stable state. The space telescope was launched in 2009 to survey a portion of the Milky Way galaxy in search planets outside Earth’s solar system. Since then, Kepler has detected nearly [5,000 exoplanets](http://time.com/3641539/nasa-kepler-planet/?iid=sr-link2) orbiting stars beyond the Sun, as well as [two supernovae](http://time.com/4269247/star-exploding-video-gif/), NASA says. **Read More:** [_This Is How NASA Fixed a Telescope Currently in Orbit_](http://time.com/3643896/kepler-planets-repair/?iid=sr-link1) The spacecraft was in “good health” and operating well during NASA’s last regular contact with it on April 4, Sobeck said. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the disruption. ## Transcript Three, two, one. Engine ignition. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket with science for today and for deep space exploration tomorrow. Falcon has cleared the towers. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ INAUDIBLE ] side deployed. 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