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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Kepler Begins Search for Other 'Earths'

Spacecraft will spend next 3 years searching for planet in 'Goldilocks zone'

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(Newser) – NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft Kepler was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral last night, Space.com reports. Kepler, the widest-field telescope ever sent into space, will spend the next three years scanning the sky for a planet in the "Goldilocks zone" where conditions are just right for liquid water to exist and for life to take hold.

"We have a feeling like we're about to set sail across an ocean to discover a new world," said the project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It's sort of the same feeling Columbus or Magellan must have had." The $600 million spacecraft will start scanning after a few weeks of health checks and will send its findings back to Earth monthly.

Spectators watch the launch of NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft, Kepler Friday, March 6, 2009, from Cocoa Beach, Fla.
Spectators watch the launch of NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft, Kepler Friday, March 6, 2009, from Cocoa Beach, Fla.   (AP Photo/Florida Today, Malcolm Denemark)
This artist rendition provided by NASA shows the Kepler space telescope. Kepler is designed to search for Earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy.
This artist rendition provided by NASA shows the Kepler space telescope. Kepler is designed to search for Earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy.   (AP Photo/NASA)
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At the end of those three years, we'll be able to answer, 'Are there other worlds out there or are we alone?'
- William Borucki, Kepler's principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center

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NutsInNY
Mar 7, 09 3:05 AM CST
Not just one Goldilocks Zone but many... around many different stars. Reply
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riffran
Mar 7, 09 4:05 AM CST
THATS RIGHT!.....I don't know if there is "intelligent" life out there but I wouldn't bet against it....law of averages would support that argument for life.....to think that out of the millions of stars out there, OURS is the only one capable of supporting or having life, is just plain silly....just to laugh a bit, there is a southern Babtist organization in a nearby town that preach "the existance of life elsewhere would deny GOD!!"....one of the congregation cornered me once and started in on the subject...I just had to respond by looking her straight in the eye and telling her "NANOO NANOO MORK CALLING ORSON....MORK CALLING ORSON...COME IN ORSON"...if it wasn't for her polygrip she would have lost her upper plate.... Reply
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nick
Mar 7, 09 7:11 AM CST
Gathering scientific evidence is never a bad idea, except for those with narrow beliefs and a closed mind who will feel threatened. Reply
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Rob
Mar 7, 09 8:02 AM CST
Kepler is a huge step and will add data for better predictions with the Drake Equation, if nothing else. I am hopeful and excited by the possibilities. Go NASA and go Kepler. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
NutsInNY
Mar 7, 09 8:18 AM CST
"Drake Equation"... Interesting stuff: "This equation was devised by Dr. Frank Drake (now Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz) in 1960, in an attempt to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy with which we might come in contact. The main purpose of the equation is to allow scientists to quantify the uncertainty of the factors which determine the number of such extraterrestrial civilizations." (Wikipedia)
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