DISRUPTIVE PLANETS
discovering and studying new worlds to consolidate our understanding of planets and habitats.
Kepler
Photo Credit: NASA, Fact Credit: LASP, http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions-projects/quick-facts-kepler/
Kepler Facts:
- Launch date: March 6, 2009 at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida
- Launch vehicle: Delta II
- Mission target: Earth-trailing orbit
- Mission duration: 9 1/2 years
- Other key date: October 30, 2018 – Kepler/K2 End of Flight
After 9 years in space collecting data that revealed our night sky to be filled with trillions of hidden planets, NASA is ending the Kepler space telescope’s science operations. Kepler discovered over 2,600 planets, some of which could be promising places for life. https://go.nasa.gov/2P2umV1
Credit: NASA
Related Papers:
Demory, B.-O., de Wit, J., Lewis, N., Fortney, J., Zsom, A., et al. (2013), ApJL, 776:L25. Press Release
“Inference of Inhomogeneous Clouds in an Exoplanet Atmosphere”.
Grimm, S., … de Wit, J., et al (2018), A&A, 613, A68
“The nature of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets”