14 DAY TRIAL // Officials at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), in Moffett Field, California, say that their proposed K2 mission – which would re-purpose the planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope – for a new set of observations of distant worlds has been selected by the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, in Washington, DC, for its 2014 Senior Review.
This selection does not automatically imply approval for Kepler's extended mission, but definitely represents a major step forward in the right direction. K2 will center on identifying extrasolar planets, but will use a different approach than before, since only two of the four reaction wheels on the space observatory are currently functional.
What this implies is that Kepler can no longer maintain its original orientation, which allowed it to observe a specific portion of the Milky Way for alien worlds. However, this does not mean that it cannot still conduct accurate studies, which is why K2 was proposed.
After the K2 team submits its official proposal, by January 31, 2014, an official decision is expected to be taken at NASA HQ by mid-2014. Kepler has identified more than 3,500 alien worlds to date, out of which more than 1,000 have already been confirmed by additional studies.