WASHINGTON - Are we alone in the universe? Are there other planets like Earth? Scientists will attempt to answer those questions with a telescope being launched into orbit Friday.
The Kepler spacecraft is to launch at 10:49 p.m. (0349 GMT Saturday) aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Scientists are quick to point out that the programme could have major historic implications, providing knowledge of just how common - or rare - Earth is.
It ‘could tell us that we have lots of neighbours or that we are perhaps the only one,’ said researcher Ed Weiler.
The $590-million telescope programme will spend at least the next three and a half years pointed at a large swath of the Milky Way Galaxy containing some 4.5 million stars.
The most advanced cameras ever used in space will focus on some 100,000 to 150,000 stars deemed most likely to have planets orbiting them, scientists said at a pre-launch press briefing. Data from the cameras will be used to find planets by looking for blips in the amount of light being emitted as a planet crosses in front of the star.
An Earth-sized planet will be particularly hard to spot because of its size and the fact that it will cross in front of its sun only once a year, scientists said.
Since 1995, more than 340 planets have been found outside our solar system, but these so-called exoplanets have been large, gaseous planets, like Jupiter, which tend to be closer to their stars and easier to spot because of their size. Planets like Earth, which could be capable of housing life, can exist only in a small ‘habitable zone’ within a certain distance from their sun.
The known exoplanets are ‘nothing at all like our solar system, which we know so well and we have yet to discover a true analog to Earth,’ said Padi Boyd, a scientist for the programme who called Kepler ‘essentially a planet sifter for Earths’.
Still, Kepler, named after German scientist Johannes Kepler, will scan just a small portion of the sky - about as much as would be covered by the hand of a human standing on Earth with an arm outstretched.
And if it finds an Earth-sized planet, scientists will still have a lot of work to do to determine whether conditions there would be hospitable to life because many other conditions, such as the existence of water and temperature, would also have to be right.
The mission will provide ‘an assessment of the real estate market of other rocky planets, but it won’t actually tell us how nice the homes are,’ said scientist Gibor Basri, noting that will have to wait for other missions.
Related News
Kepler Mission: Main Objective Is To Find 'Earth-like' PlanetsSeptember 18th, 2009 Kepler Mission is NASA's current mission which is reportedly going to last for four years. The mission is to be carried out by NASA and its major objective is to find planets like Earth through this mission.
NASA's Kepler space telescope detects atmosphere of known giant gas planetAugust 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet. The find is based on a relatively short 10 days of test data collected before the official start of science operations.
NASA starts back to moonJune 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA launched its dual moon mission Thursday that will pave the way for humans to return to the moon. The Atlas V rocket launch lifted off at 05:32 p.m., just 20 minutes after planned, from NASA's Cape Canaveral in Florida.
With space shuttle launch on hold, NASA unmanned moon rocket aims for Thursday liftoffJune 17th, 2009 NASA aims for unmanned moon rocket launch ThursdayWASHINGTON — NASA plans to launch an unmanned rocket to the moon Thursday, the first such mission in a decade. The space agency announced plans for the Cape Canaveral launch Wednesday after deciding to postpone a space shuttle mission because of a hydrogen gas leak.
NASA's Kepler spacecraft begins hunt for Earth-like planetsMay 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Kepler spacecraft, which launched into orbit on March 6, has being hunting for other Earth-like planets. The mission will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at more than 100,000 stars for telltale signs of planets.
Atlantis scheduled for launch May 11, says NASAMay 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - US space agency NASA will launch its space shuttle Atlantis on May 11 to upgrade the Hubble telescope. The Atlantis and its seven crewmembers will depart from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre at 2 p.m.
NASA's Kepler mission sends first shots of planet-hunting territoryApril 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Kepler mission has captured 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.
Kepler orbiting Sun as scheduled: NASAMarch 8th, 2009 LOS ANGELES - Kepler, a telescope that will scour the Milky Way for evidence of Earth-like planets, is orbiting the Sun as expected, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said Saturday. Aboard a three-stage Delta 2 rocket, the Kepler telescope blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida around 7:50 p.m.
Kepler camera launched: Other 'earths', where are you?March 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA late Friday sent the Kepler satellite into Earth's orbit with instructions to search for extraterrestrial life on Earth-type planets orbiting other stars. The launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on board a Delta-II-rocket was reported on a live blog operated by the Kepler project on the internet.
NASA postpones Discovery launchFebruary 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA has for the fourth time delayed the launch of its space shuttle Discovery due to technical reasons, the US space agency has announced. After meeting all Friday at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, shuttle managers decided against launching it in a week.
ET, where are you? NASA to launch Kepler cameraFebruary 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The search for extraterrestrial life will take another step in March, when NASA launches its Kepler satellite to systematically look for Earth-type planets orbiting other stars. The Kepler mission, named after the 17th century German astronomer, is to be launched March 5 and target 100,000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy that scientists believe could have planets orbiting in a 'habitable' zone, NASA scientists said Thursday.
NASA's Kepler mission to begin quest to find planets hosting lifeFebruary 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Kepler spacecraft is ready to begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life. It is scheduled for blast-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5 at 7:48 p.m.
ET, where are you? NASA to launch Kepler cameraFebruary 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The search for extraterrestrial life will take another step in March, when NASA launches its Kepler satellite to systematically look for Earth-type planets orbiting other stars. The Kepler mission, named after the 17th century German astronomer, is to be launched March 5 and target 100,000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy that scientists believe could have planets orbiting in a 'habitable' zone, NASA scientists said Thursday.
ET, where are you? NASA to launch Kepler cameraFebruary 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The search for extraterrestrial life will take another step in March, when NASA launches its Kepler satellite to systematically look for Earth-type planets orbiting other stars. The Kepler mission, named after the 17th century German astronomer, is to be launched March 5 and target 100,000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy that scientists believe could have planets orbiting in a 'habitable' zone, NASA scientists said Thursday.
NASA's Kepler mission to begin quest to find planets hosting lifeFebruary 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Kepler spacecraft is ready to begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life. It is scheduled for blast-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5 at 7:48 p.m.
Loading ...