* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Kepler mission

Blobrana · L

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has begun its search for other Earth-like worlds. The mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 6, will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at more than 100,000 stars for telltale signs of planets. Kepler has the unique ability to find planets as small as Earth that orbit sun-like stars at distances where temperatures are right for possible lakes and oceans.

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Blobrana · L

The Kepler space telescope has captured its first images of a portion of sky with 14 million stars, with about 100,000 that could be candidates for hunting Earth-like planets during its 3 1/2-year mission.
Two "incredible" milestones have been achieved in the past few days, said John Troeltzsch, Kepler program manager for Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies, which built the $591 million spacecraft.

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Blobrana · L

One new image from Kepler shows its entire field of view - a 100-square-degree portion of the sky, equivalent to two side-by-side dips of the Big Dipper. The regions contain an estimated 14 millions stars, more than 100,000 of which were selected as ideal candidates for planet hunting.
Two other views focus on just one-thousandth of the full field of view. In one image, a cluster of stars located about 13,000 light-years from Earth, called NGC 6791, can be seen in the lower left corner. The other image zooms in on a region containing a star, called TrES-2, with a known Jupiterlike planet orbiting every 2.5 days.

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Blobrana · L

The Kepler mission has launched a new era of astronomy following release of "first light" images from the Ball Aerospace-built photometer.

"As the prime contractor, we are thrilled to know the Kepler mission is poised to contribute to a new age of astronomy for NASA and scientists around the world. This milestone brings us one step closer to discovering Earth-like planets in our galaxy" - David L. Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

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Blobrana · L

NASA's Kepler mission has taken its first images of the star-rich sky where it will soon begin hunting for planets like Earth.
The new "first light" images show the mission's target patch of sky, a vast starry field in the Cygnus-Lyra region of our Milky Way galaxy. One image shows millions of stars in Kepler's full field of view, while two others zoom in on portions of the larger region.

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Blobrana · L

When NASA's Kepler spacecraft blasts into space on March 6, thousands of scientists around the globe will get one step closer to finding out just how unique Earth - and possibly life - really is.
The robotic probe will spend the next three-and-a-half years analysing stars within our Milky Way galaxy in the hopes of discovering Earth-like planets - those that could contain liquid water and therefore support life.
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Blobrana · L

Engineers have successfully ejected the dust cover from NASA's Kepler telescope, a spaceborne mission soon to begin searching for worlds like Earth.

"The cover released and flew away exactly as we designed it to do. This is a critical step toward answering a question that has come down to us across 100 generations of human history -- are there other planets like Earth, or are we alone in the galaxy?" - Kepler Project Manager James Fanson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

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Blobrana · L

NASA's Kepler mission successfully launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II at 10:49 p.m. EST (7:49 p.m. PST), Friday, March 6. Kepler is designed to find the first Earth-size planets orbiting stars at distances where water could pool on the planet's surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.

"It was a stunning launch. Our team is thrilled to be a part of something so meaningful to the human race -- Kepler will help us understand if our Earth is unique or if others like it are out there" - Kepler Project Manager James Fanson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Engineers acquired a signal from Kepler at 12:11 a.m. Saturday EST (9:11 p.m. Friday PST), after it separated from its spent third-stage rocket and entered its final sun-centred orbit, trailing about 1,529 kilometres behind Earth. The spacecraft is generating its own power from its solar panels.

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Blobrana · L

Launch of NASA's Kepler telescope is targeted for no earlier than Friday, March 6, from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There are two launch windows, from 10:49 - 10:52 p.m. and 11:13 - 11:16 p.m. EST.

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