Kepler Telescope out of fuel, forced to take a nap

NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is almost out of fuel and has been forced to take a nap. Flight controllers placed the planet hunting spacecraft into hibernation last week to save energy it will remain sleep until early August, when controllers attempt to send down the data collected before observation were interrupted.

Kepler has been searching for planets outside our solar system for nearly a decade. It's discovered nearly 3000 confirmed world and as many potential candidates. Launched in 2009, Kepler has endured mechanical failures but there is no getting around an empty fuel tank. The fuel is needed for pointing the telescope. Kepler's antenna must be pointed towards to get the most recent observation back.