Let the Planet Hunt Begin
05.13.09
Kepler Mission Status Report
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.
"Now the fun begins," said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator
at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "We are all really
excited to start sorting through the data and discovering the planets."
Scientists and engineers have spent the last two months checking out and
calibrating the Kepler spacecraft. Data have been collected to characterize
the imaging performance as well as the noise level in the measurement electronics.
The scientists have constructed the list of targets for the start of the planet
search, and this information has been loaded onto the spacecraft.
"If Kepler got into a staring contest, it would win," said James Fanson, Kepler
project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The
spacecraft is ready to stare intently at the same stars for several years so that
it can precisely measure the slightest changes in their brightness caused by planets."
Kepler will hunt for planets by looking for periodic dips in the brightness of stars
-- events that occur when orbiting planets cross in front of their stars and
partially block the light.
The mission's first finds are expected to be large, gas planets situated close to
their stars. Such discoveries could be announced as early as next year.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.,
is the home organization of the science principal investigator, and is responsible
for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. JPL
manages the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder,
Colo., is responsible for developing the Kepler flight system and supporting mission operations.
For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler and
http://www.kepler.nasa.gov .
Media contacts: Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov
Michael Mewhinney 650-604-3937
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
michael.s.mewhinney@nasa.gov
2009-084