Kepler lifts off through an exhaust cloud created by its Delta II rocket engines.

J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Whitney Clavin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-4673
whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov

Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,Calif.
650-604-3937
michael.s.mewhinney@nasa.gov

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-861-7643
george.h.diller@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-052

NASA'S KEPLER MISSION ROCKETS TO SPACE IN SEARCH OF OTHER EARTHS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Kepler mission successfully launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II at 10:49 p.m. EST, Friday. Kepler is designed to find the first Earth-size planets orbiting stars at distances where water could pool on the planet's surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.

"It was a stunning launch," said Kepler Project Manager James Fanson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Our team is thrilled to be a part of something so meaningful to the human race -- Kepler will help us understand if our Earth is unique or if others like it are out there."

Engineers acquired a signal from Kepler at 12:11 a.m. Saturday, after it separated from its spent third-stage rocket and entered its final sun-centered orbit, trailing 950 miles behind Earth. The spacecraft is generating its own power from its solar panels.

"Kepler now has the perfect place to watch more than 100,000 stars for
signs of planets," said William Borucki, the mission's science
principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett
Field, Calif. Borucki has worked on the mission for 17 years.
"Everyone is very excited as our dream becomes a reality. We are on
the verge of learning if other Earths are ubiquitous in the galaxy."

Engineers have begun to check Kepler to ensure it is working properly,
a process called "commissioning" that will take about 60 days. In
about a month or less, NASA will send up commands for Kepler to eject
its dust cover and make its first measurements. After another month
of calibrating Kepler's single instrument, a wide-field charge-couple
device camera, the telescope will begin to search for planets.

The first planets to roll out on the Kepler "assembly line" are
expected to be the portly "hot Jupiters" -- gas giants that circle
close and fast around their stars. NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space
telescopes will be able to follow up with these planets and learn
more about their atmospheres. Neptune-size planets will most likely
be found next, followed by rocky ones as small as Earth. The true
Earth analogs -- Earth-sized planets orbiting stars like our sun at
distances where surface water, and possibly life, could exist --
would take at least three years to discover and confirm. Ground-based
telescopes also will contribute to the mission by verifying some of
the finds.

In the end, Kepler will give us our first look at the frequency of
Earth-size planets in our Milky Way galaxy, as well as the frequency
of Earth-size planets that could theoretically be habitable.

"Even if we find no planets like Earth, that by itself would be
profound. It would indicate that we are probably alone in the
galaxy," said Borucki.

As the mission progresses, Kepler will drift farther and farther
behind Earth in its orbit around the sun. NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope, which was launched into the same orbit more than five
years ago, is now more than 62 million miles behind Earth.

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. 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. NASA's Launch
Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., managed the
launch service including payload integration and certifying the Delta
II launch vehicle for NASA's use.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler