NASA's Kepler mission to seek other Earth-like
planets is undergoing final preparations for liftoff Friday, March 6,
from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The
spacecraft launch aboard a Delta II rocket has two windows of
opportunity Friday, from 10:49 to 10:52 p.m. and 11:13 to 11:16 p.m.
EST.
Kepler is designed to find the first Earth-size planets orbiting stars
in habitable zones -- regions where water could pool on the surface
of the planets. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the
formation of life.
"This mission attempts to answer a question that is as old as time
itself -- are other planets like ours out there?" said Ed Weiler,
associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at
NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It's not just a science question --
it's a basic human question."
After the clock ticks down to liftoff, the Delta II's first-stage main
engine and six strap-on solid rocket boosters will ignite. Three
remaining boosters will ignite 65.5 seconds later, and the
first-stage main engine will continue to burn for 4.5 minutes. The
second stage will then ignite, carrying Kepler into a circular orbit
115 miles above Earth less than 10 minutes after launch. After
coasting for 43 minutes, the second-stage engine will fire again,
followed by second-stage shutdown and separation. The third stage
will then burn for five minutes.
Sixty-two minutes after launch Kepler will have separated entirely
from its rocket and will be in its final Earth-trailing orbit around
the sun, an orbit similar to that of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
"We are very excited to see this magnificent spacecraft come to life
when it reaches space, " said James Fanson, Kepler project manager at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
After a commissioning period lasting about two months, Kepler will
begin its job of staring at more than 100, 000 stars for
three-and-one-half years, looking for planets. Its isolated perch
behind Earth will give the telescope an unobstructed view of a
single, very large patch of sky near the Cygnus and Lyra
constellations.
"We will monitor a wide range of stars; from small cool ones, where
planets must circle closely to stay warm, to stars bigger and hotter
than the sun, where planets must stay well clear to avoid being
roasted, " said William Borucki, science principal investigator for
the mission at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.
Borucki has been working on the mission for 17 years. "Everything
about the mission is optimized to find Earth-size planets with the
potential for life, to help us answer the question -- are Earths
bountiful or is our planet unique?"
Kepler will find planets by looking for periodic dips in starlight.
Planets that happen to pass directly in front of their stars from
Earth's point of view cause the stars to dim by almost imperceptible
amounts. Kepler's powerful camera, the largest ever flown in space,
can see the faintest of these "winks."
"Trying to detect Jupiter-size planets crossing in front of their
stars is like trying to measure the effect of a mosquito flying by a
car's headlight, " said Fanson. "Finding Earth-sized planets is like
trying to detect a very tiny flea in that same headlight."
If the mission does find Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of
stars, it should find them first around stars that are smaller than
our sun. This is because the habitable zone is closer for small
stars; planets circling in this region would take less time to
complete one lap and, theoretically, less time for Kepler to find
them and for other ground-telescopes to confirm their existence. Any
Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zones of stars like our
sun -- the true Earth analogs -- would take at least three years to
be confirmed.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. Ames is the home organization of
the science principal investigator and is responsible for the ground
system development, mission operations and science data analysis.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the
Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of
Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the Kepler flight
system and supporting mission operations. NASA's Launch Services
Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., manages the launch
service including payload integration and certifying the Delta II
launch vehicle for NASA's use.
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