The amazing NASA Kepler mission, which is showing us that there are lots and lots and lots and lots of planets in the galaxy, was in danger of ending before it was done, because it was taking longer to do what it was doing. The reason was that it measures changes in the brightness of stars, and some stars just vary in brightness. A lot more stars than was expected, it turns out.
So -- Kepler needed a funding extension to finish the job it was sent into space to do. And since it has been to this point a remarkable success, that would seem to be an easy decision to make. But nothing is certain when bean counters and budget balancers are putting pressure on all the agencies and administrations to cut, even groundbreaking, unprecedented, worldview-changing science like Kepler is doing. So nothing is certain until it's certain.
Well, thankfully, NASA made the right easy decision, and Kepler will keep on counting planets.
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler mission extended through 2016
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