
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Hazardous Processing Facility at Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., NASA's Kepler spacecraft is being unwrapped to prepare for fueling. Kepler is designed to survey more than 100,000 stars in our galaxy to determine the number of sun-like stars that have Earth-size and larger planets, including those that lie in a star's "habitable zone," a region where liquid water, and perhaps life, could exist. If these Earth-size worlds do exist around stars like our sun, Kepler is expected to be the first to find them and the first to measure how common they are. The liftoff of Kepler aboard a Delta II rocket is currently planned for 10:48 p.m. EST March 5 from Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs
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NASA ID
KSC-2009-1476
Date Created
February 3, 2009
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
Cape Canaveral, FL
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