Universal Life

After nine years of looking for planets beyond our Solar System, in October 2018 the Kepler Space Telescope ran out of fuel and was retired by NASA. But, how did the mission go from a concept to discovering over 2,600 exoplanets?

,Q HDV\ WR GLJHVW FKDSWHUV ZH DUH treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible 20-year journey Kepler endured to reach launch-ready status; how it survived several rejections, running out of money and had to follow the failed launch RI 1$6$ V PLOOLRQ 2UELWLQJ &DUERQ Observatory.

Thankfully, on 6 March 2009 Kepler did QDOO\ KLWFK D ULGH RQ D 'HOWD ,, URFNHW ZLWK WKH JRDO RI QGLQJ WKH UVW (DUWK OLNH KDELWDEOH SODQHW ,W WRRN D ZKLOH EXW LQ the team were rewarded with the discovery RI .HSOHU E WKH UVW NQRZQ WUDQVLWLQJ exoplanet around a Sun-like star.

Through personal anecdotes it becomes clear that astronomers often dedicate entire careers to space missions, so by the time crucial components start to fail aboard Kepler, the reader is heavily invested in its survival.

Kepler aside, Boss also provides insight into how a multitude of missions have progressed over the last decade, from his unique perspective overseeing aspects of NASA’s 2010 decadal survey of the science community. This was one of the most interesting elements of the entire book.

,I \RX YH HYHU ZDQWHG WR XQGHUVWDQG ZK\ space missions take decades to be realised, with some science highlights scattered in between, then give Boss’s ODWHVW ERRN D JR ,W V D SDJH WXUQHU WKDW LV worthy of multiple rereads.