Get ready for the launch of NASA’s Kepler telescope now 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. Kepler’s original March 5 target launch date was moved one day later to accommodate the additional time for analysis. The March 6 target date still must be confirmed by the U.S. Air Force, which manages the eastern launch range. Kepler’s Flight Readiness Review is on Monday, March 2.
Kepler is a spaceborne telescope designed to search the nearby region
of our galaxy for Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone
of stars like our sun. The habitable zone is the region around a star
where temperatures permit water to be liquid on a planet’s surface.
Liquid water is considered essential for the existence of life as we know it. The vast majority of the approximately 300 planets known to orbit other stars are much larger than Earth, and none is believed to be habitable. The challenge for Kepler is to look at a large number of stars in order to statistically estimate the total number of Earth-size planets orbiting sun-like stars in the habitable zone. Kepler will survey more than 100,000 stars in our galaxy.
Engineers are reviewing all common hardware between the Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler telescope and the Taurus XL launch vehicle. On Tuesday, a Taurus carrying NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory failed to reach orbit. Managers want to confirm there will not be similar issues with Kepler’s Delta II.
There is also a human side to any project, and helping see this project to fruition involves a cast of hundreds of other scientists, engineers, programmers and managers. Two such experts were profiled at , and their enthusiasm for the project of a lifetime is evidenced in their interviews: Jon Jenkins, is anxiously awaiting the Kepler launch and the moment where data from the Kepler spacecraft will be analyzed. “All of the magic will happen in the data processing facility. That is where pixels will turn into planets,” said Jenkins. “It’s like getting new prescription glasses. We’ll get to see things we have never seen before.” Left Image of Jon Jenkins Photo Credit: Seth Shostak/SETI Institute
Another energetic expert is David Koch. In 1988, Koch arrived at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, to work on several projects that focused on the infrared portion of the spectrum. “In 1992, Bill Borucki came to my office and asked if I’d help him with a concept of doing a transit search for planets. I said ‘Sure Bill. I like building things.’“ That’s how Koch came to Kepler.
Regarding the mission’s goal: That goal is to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to search for Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone. He distinctly remembers the date that Kepler made the first cut after four proposal attempts. “It was December 21, 2001. There are certain dates that you just remember in your life.”
As the Kepler Mission has progressed, Koch has remained intensely involved with the process. “I got goose bumps when I saw the finished hardware for the first time. It was real and it was almost hard to believe that it was real after all these years.” Right Image of David Koch. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center
NASA’s Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is responsible for the launch of Kepler aboard a Delta II 7925-10L rocket. United Launch Alliance is conducting the launch for NASA. NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, is the home organization of the principal science investigator and is responsible for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is responsible for the spacecraft and the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation of Boulder, Colorado, is responsible for developing and building the Kepler spacecraft and supporting mission operations.
