On Thursday, July 18, 2013 the team initiated exploratory recovery tests on the spacecraft’s two failed wheels. The recovery tests are a series of steps to characterize the performance of Reaction Wheels (RW) 4 and 2, and to determine if either could be returned to operation.

The initial test began on Thursday, July 18, 2013, with RW4. In response to test commands, wheel 4 did not spin in the positive (or clockwise) direction but the wheel did spin in the negative (or counterclockwise) direction. Wheel 4 is thought to be the more seriously damaged of the two.

On Monday, July 22, 2013, the team proceeded with a test of RW2. Wheel 2 responded to test commands and spun in both directions.

Over the next two weeks, engineers will review the data from these tests and consider what steps to take next. Although both wheels have shown motion, the friction levels will be critical in future considerations. The details of the wheel friction are under analysis.

Kepler requires extremely precise pointing to detect the faint periodic dimming of distant starlight— the telltale sign of a planet transiting the face of its host star. Too much friction from the reaction wheels can cause vibration and impact the pointing precision of the telescope.

Via Kepler Mission Manager Update: Initial Recovery Tests | NASA.

P-M Heden of The World at Night took this photo from Uppsala, Sweden in Sept. 2012. This deep landscape shot required only a wide aperture and filter to boost contrast.Image: P-M Heden / Clearskies.se / The World at Night

One of the pleasures people can get out of stargazing is noticing and enjoying the various colors that stars display in dark skies.

These hues offer direct visual evidence of how stellar temperatures vary. A good many of the summer luminaries — such as brilliant Vega which this week stands nearly overhead at around midnight — are bluish-white, but we can easily find other, contrasting colors there as well.

Look at reddish Antares, which is due south at around 10 p.m. EDT, and the yellowish-white Altair, which stands high in the south at 1 a.m. EDT. Considerably removed from this summer retinue, brilliant yellow-orange Arcturus holds forth in solitary splendor about halfway up in the west-southwest as darkness falls on these balmy July evenings.

Double color

Probably the most colorful double star in the night sky can now be found about two-thirds of the way up from the eastern horizon to the point directly overhead at 10 p.m. local daylight time: Albireo in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan, also known as the Northern Cross. Albireo supposedly marks the swan’s beak, or the base of the cross.

A small telescope or even a pair of steadily held binoculars will readily split Albireo into two tiny points of light of beautiful contrasting colors: the brighter one a rich yellowish-orange, the other a deep azure blue, both placed very close together.

Astronomer Garrett P. Serviss referred to Albireo as “… unrivaled for beauty, the larger star being pale topaz and the smaller a deep sapphire.”

via Starry Night: Colors of Summer Stars Explained: Scientific American.

Way To Go Dave Keep Up The Good Work!!