<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/kepler_spacecraft_artist_render_crop_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/kepler_spacecraft_artist_render_crop_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/kepler_spacecraft_artist_render_crop_0.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > NASA scientists were successfully able to rescue the Kepler Spacecraft after earlier finding it in emergency mode. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Wendy Stenzel) (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Wendy Stenzel)

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was updated April 11, 2016.

NASA's Kepler Spacecraft has been successfully recovered.

Earlier, the space agency announced that mission operators were surprised to find the exoplanet-detecting space probe was in emergency mode (EM) during a routine contact late last week. The probe, according to the Verge, was to be maneuvered "to point at the center of the Milky Way for a new observation campaign." Reacting to the distress signal, engineers scrambled to rescue the telescope and were safely able to stabilize the probe and point its communication antenna back towards Earth.

"It was the quick response and determination of the engineers throughout the weekend that led to the recovery," Charlie Sobeck, mission manager at NASA's Ames Research Center, wrote in a press release. "We are deeply appreciative of their efforts, and for the outpouring of support from the mission's fans and followers from around the world."

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When a spacecraft shifts into emergency mode it burns more of its fuel supply, which, according to the scientific journal Nature , is "needed to ignite its thrusters and orient the spacecraft to communicate with Earth."

Fortunately, the team was able to safely shift the probe to its "lowest fuel-burn mode."

Once more of the spacecraft's information is transmitted back to Earth, the NASA team plans on evaluating Kepler's "board systems" to make sure its safe enough switch into science mode and continue its mission.

Kepler has previously struggled with setbacks in space. In July 2012, one of the spacecraft's reaction wheels failed, which forced NASA to end its primary mission goals and transition into a more constrained K2 mode, utilizing the probe's remaining capabilities.

Despite this, the space observatory has spotted 5,000 exoplanets. More than 1,000 of these discoveries have been officially confirmed by astronomers.

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