The Kepler Observatory (2/2)

NASA's Kepler spacecraft is ready to be moved to the launch pad and will soon begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life.

Kepler is scheduled to blast into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket on 5th March 2009 at 10:48 p.m. EST. It is the first mission with the ability to find planets like Earth -- rocky planets that orbit sun-like stars in a warm zone where liquid water could be maintained on the surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.

"Kepler is a critical component in NASA's broader efforts to ultimately find and study planets where Earth-like conditions may be present," said Jon Morse, the Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The planetary census Kepler takes will be very important for understanding the frequency of Earth-size planets in our galaxy and planning future missions that directly detect and characterize such worlds around nearby stars."

The Kepler spacecraft will watch a patch of space for 3.5 years or more for signs of Earth-sized planets moving around stars similar to the sun. The patch that Kepler will watch contains about 100,000 stars like the sun. Using special detectors similar to those used in digital cameras, Kepler will look for slight dimming in the stars as planets pass between the star and Kepler. The Kepler's place in space will allow it to watch the same stars constantly throughout its mission, something observatories like Hubble cannot do.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Kepler
• Observatory

[Shadowsnshades]

Fascinating I can't wait for the results. Thanks so much Bruno.

[seyoumeye]

why is the Orion constellation and others (from 9:54) back ground sky map is mirrored? (As if viewed from another solar system(?)

"NASA, are we still in search for our HOME(?)".

[hpstarman]

Good luck to Nasa in finding an earth like ours, it,s amazing to think that the earth could be the only planet in the universe that sustains the miracle of Human Life, I have always thought of an earth like ours, maybe there is without humans, but say plant vegation and trees, maybe like before Humans inhabited the earth.......wow !

[2012BeyondtheWorld]

There are 7 billion humans on Earth and a more vast majority of ANIMALS!!!!!

So scary. The Earth can hold so much because it had gravity ughhhh

[indianheart]

I am hoping to find another earth like planet for us. After few hundreds of years, Earth will be filled up with too many humans. We may need more space and resources to hold the population. If we never find another planet, it will be catastrophe for human life. If we don't find another planet , we may end killing each other for resources and space on this planet.

[taschi71]

we don't need to look for planetx, if these suckers come we're going to kick their ass anyway so who cares ... oh and let's put sitchin on planetx when it comes through so we get a break from this bullshit until he comes back in a couple of thousand years

[deltapeco]

If u think I,m being a little over paranoid check the grid Kepler will be watching....Right at the front door of the center of the milky way... Right where planet x will pass threw(if it exists at all) on its way to the alignment .

[deltapeco]

This is a smoke screen. they are not looking for planets..They are looking for the first traces of the return of planet X....and the hundreds and thousands of (killer) asteroids and comets that will precede it(planet X)The kicker is when they find these asteroids they will run to the bunkers and leave us to clean up the mess

[psrb125712]

:)

do a google image search for "brain cell universe"

watch?v=G525hHhbWPM

watch?v=W35SYkfdGtw

[RtFusion]

I'd concur as seeing how old the observable Universe is. But again, I see that the odds are as high as you and I would like them to be.

[dmana3172]

I believe there are civilizations out there that are extremely advanced. Theirs may be millions or even billions of years ahead of us. We would be too primitive like ants to us, and we could even be size of an ant to them as an ant to us in size. Do you and everyone agree?