November 15, 2022
On this date in 1630, German astronomer Johannes Kepler died. On the same date in 2018 – 388 years later – the Kepler Space Telescope was officially retired and deactivated with a “goodnight” command sent from the mission control. The telescope, which was named after the scientist, focused on discovering Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars.
On the left is a 1620 portrait of astronomer Johannes Kepler. On the right, an illustration of the Kepler Space Telescope which discovered over 2,600 planets. Image credit left: public domain, right: NASA