A really really exciting launch:
Spacecraft blasts off in search of 'Earths'
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/0...ets/index.html
Quote:
(CNN) -- Calling it a mission that may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself, NASA on Friday launched a telescope that will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.
This image shows part of the Milky Way region of the sky where the Kepler spacecraft will be pointing.
The Kepler spacecraft blasted into space on top of a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida just before 11 p.m. ET.
"This is a historical mission. It's not just a science mission," NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler said during a pre-launch news conference.
"It really attacks some very basic human questions that have been part of our genetic code since that first man or woman looked up in the sky and asked the question: Are we alone?"
Kepler contains a special telescope that will stare at 100,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of the Milky Way for more than three years as it trails Earth's orbit around the Sun.
|
Nasa's mission website:
http://kepler.nasa.gov/