NASA says its has lost contact with mini-satellite probing nearby stars for unseen planets

A NASA-operated satellite designed to hunt for distant planets may be gone for good. According to the agency, NASA lost contact with its Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA), a briefcase-sized spacecraft designed to study planets outside our solar system. Communications were lost on December 5 according to NASA and the agency will continue trying to reach it until March 2020. 'The ASTERIA project achieved outstanding results during its three -month prime mission and its nearly two-year-long extended mission,' said JPL's Lorraine Fesq, current ASTERIA program manager. 'Although we are disappointed that we lost contact with the spacecraft, we are thrilled with all that we have accomplished with this impressive CubeSat.'