Kepler Mission

[rocketscientist327]

T-16 months and counting!<br /><br />Is anyone else excited about this mission? I know we are finding lots of planets but I am excited we will find planets in the habitable zone in solar systems. It seems like every other month we here about new planets being found.<br /><br />I think Kepler is the first step in finding new Earths with follow on missions with our next generation of telescopes. I feel young again with these missions. It is like that old show, "The Big Blue Marble".<br /><br />I know this mission will not give us pictures, but I am hoping we have a nice picture of a new earth by 2025. I feel like these missions pump up Americans with pride and drive kids to pursue science and mathematics.<br /><br />Respectfully,<br />Rocket Scientist 327

 

[robotical]

I've been looking forward to it ever since it was announced. Extrasolar planets fascinate me, far more than stars. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[docm]

Agreed. I love missions that reach for the edge. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rocketscientist327]

PRESS RELEASE<br />Date Released: Tuesday, September 25, 2007<br />Source: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.<br /><br />Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has successfully completed two significant milestones for the Kepler Mission: the precision coating process of Kepler's primary mirror, and the integration of the detector array assembly. These milestones meet a critical path requirement and allow the program to begin integration and test on the photometer telescope and focal plane array assembly.<br /><br />"These milestones allow the Kepler mission to enter the next phase of development and demonstrate Ball Aerospace's intent to successfully move the program forward," said Cary Ludtke, Vice President and General Manager for Ball's Civil and Operational Space business unit.<br /><br />The Kepler instrument is a custom-built, 0.95-meter aperture Schmidt telescope, with a 1.4-meter primary mirror, and an array of 46 charge coupled devices (CCDs) at the focus. It features a focal plane array of 95 megapixels that will measure the brightness of 100,000 stars every 30 minutes in a search for Earth-size planets around stars in our galaxy.<br /><br />Coating the primary mirror culminates a four-year development program to design and build a large, light-weight mirror for use in space. The enhanced, silver coating technology used for the primary mirror was provided by Surface Optics Corporation and is designed to provide the NASA mission with the sensitivity needed to detect planets as they pass in front of stars. With the primary mirror complete, integration of the telescope using the 0.95 m Schmidt corrector and composite housing is now underway. The advanced integration and functional testing of the Ball-designed and manufactured CCD Detector Module array and detector electronics were completed at Ball's Detector Technology Center, opened in 2006.<br /><br />Ball Aerospace is also building the spacecraft for the Kepler mission, which is scheduled to launch in February,

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well we have a thread now!!<br />Thanx.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[themanwithoutapast]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Is anyone else excited about this mission? I know we are finding lots of planets but I am excited we will find planets in the habitable zone in solar systems. It seems like every other month we here about new planets being found.<br /><br />I think Kepler is the first step in finding new Earths with follow on missions with our next generation of telescopes. I feel young again with these missions. It is like that old show, "The Big Blue Marble". <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />1. Strictly speeking Kepler is the second space observatory which primary function is detecting extrasolar planets. COROT being the first. In addition, due to better than expected accuracy, COROT is also the first space observatory capable of finding Earth-size planets.<br /><br />2. Hopefully Kepler will really launch in early 2009. Judging from other space observatory mission delays in the past and present (and from the delays the Kepler program already incurred), it might be more like end of 2009 or first half of 2010. In terms of space observatories, currently I am excited by the upcoming Q1 2008 launch of Herschel and Planck, Herschel being the space observatory with the largest mirror ever built (3.5m diameter compared to Hubble with just 2.4m diameter)!

 

[3488]

Thank you very much RocketScientist327.<br /><br />Kepler may well discover entire solar systems, with a wide range of planetary sizes.<br /><br />Very exciting stuff.<br /><br />Thank you for starting this thread.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[cbased]

<i>95 megapixels</i><br />now THAT is a photo camera! <br />Can I have it for Christmas? <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br /><i>that will measure the brightness of 100,000 stars every 30 minutes</i><br />Here is a question that I always wanted to ask. It looks like so far they were finding planets with short periods (days). Earth, for example, changes sun brightness only once a year (for remote observers). So it will take a few years worth of observation time to determine these periodic fluctuations. Are they going to observe these 100,000 stars that long? How much data are they going to store then? These will be huge data arrays...

 

[themanwithoutapast]

"Are they going to observe these 100,000 stars that long?"<br /><br />Kepler is trying to find transitions, that is exoplanets transiting before their host stars. Most of the exoplanets found on Earth have been found by the radial velocity method. The radial velocity method is an indirect method that determines the mass of an exoplanet by the "wobbling" of the star caused by the mass of the exoplanet when orbiting the star. The closer the planet is to the star and the more massive it is the easier it is to detect the planet.<br /><br />While the methods are different, it is still more likely to find closer stars to the star than stars having a larger orbit due to the shorter orbital periods with the transit method. <br /><br />Kepler will continuously look at those 100,000 stars, because a transit can of course occur any time and the more time you monitor a star the more likely it is that you will find a transit.<br /><br />"How much data are they going to store then? These will be huge data arrays..."<br /><br />While the actual observed data would be huge to store, the only thing interesting are the moments when stars' brightness drops which suggests a transit. Kepler has a Ka-band capability with up to 4.3 Mbps for downlink. Downlink will occur every month when scientific relevant data will be sent to NASA.

 

[MeteorWayne]

The mission is supposed to last 3-5 years. <br /><br /> Kepler Mission Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[docm]

<font color="yellow">95 megapixels<br /><br />now THAT is a photo camera!<br />Can I have it for Christmas?</font><br /><br />How about 1.4 GIGApixels?<br /><br />Link...<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>The world's largest digital camera has been installed on a new telescope designed to hunt for potentially dangerous asteroids.<br /><br />The camera was installed on the PS1 telescope in Maui, Hawaii, US, the first of four telescopes being built as part of a project called the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS).<br /><br />Pan-STARRS will make frequent scans of the sky, searching for asteroids that could pose an impact threat to Earth.<br /><br />Typical consumer digital cameras offer imaging chips just a few millimetres across. The new Pan-STARRS camera, by contrast, boasts a light-detecting surface that spans 40 centimetres. Sixty separate chips lie on that surface, providing a total of 1.4 billion pixels.<br /><br />"This is a truly giant instrument," says John Tonry of the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) at the University of Hawaii, who led the team that developed the camera. "It allows us to measure the brightness of the sky in 1.4 billion places simultaneously."<br /><br />"This camera is an incredibly complex instrument, and getting it working has been a magnificent achievement by IfA scientists and engineers," says Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, director of the IfA, which manages the Pan-STARSS project.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bobblebob]

My holiday photos would look great with that camera <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />

 

[MeteorWayne]

Maybe not. Seeing all those bacteria on peoples faces might be disconcerting <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

At 1.4 Gigapixels, I don't think anyone will be a pretty sight. <img src="/images/icons/crazy.gif" /><br /><br />I wonder if that camera will ever be pointed at the Moon?<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I would guess not. It is designed to look at faint objects, the moon might kill it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Thats true, moonlight will fry it. <br /><br />It was just a thought.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[docm]

<font color="yellow">I would guess not. It is designed to look at faint objects, the moon might kill it.</font><br /><br />Dim light sensitivity is gained by chilling the CCD to reduce black noise, sometimes with a Peltier junction cooler and sometimes using cryo coolers. <br /><br />'Normal' lighting, or moonlight, won't kill it as evidenced by the room lighting in the below photo. That light is brighter than any image it'll acquire.<br /><br />Pic.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

"Are they going to observe these 100,000 stars that long? How much data are they going to store then? These will be huge data arrays... "<br /><br />Yes, and that is the REAL interesting science. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> We will blow open the study of variability in stars with this database. I helped birth this baby and I have been drooling for, oh way too many years! And if discovers a planet or two - BONUS! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[thalion]

Seeing as to that we may never see SIM or TPF get off the ground, I *am* jazzed about Kepler. <br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[h2ouniverse]

If Darwin passes the shortlisting of Cosmic Vision 2016-2025 by ESA in October, that might help TPF, as there is some will to merge the two missions.<br /><br />Let's see.

 

[alokmohan]

Please explain your post.Darwin must be a proposed spacecraft.What is cosmic vision?

 

[h2ouniverse]

Sorry,<br /><br />"Cosmic Vision" is ESA's decennial plan for exploration and science. The next one is for the 2016-2025 decade (for launch dates). There was a call for ideas to the Science community, closed by end of June with about 50 proposals.<br />ESA is currently shortlisting 3 large missions L1, L2 and L3 (about 650 mln euros each ) and 3 medium M1, M2 and M3 (about 300 mln euros).<br />Then they will select L1 and M1 for launches around 2017, 2018. <br />L2, M2, L3 and M3 will be kept aside and preliminary studied and another call for idea will add another L and another M within a few years, and on we go again...<br /><br />A preliminary intermediate shortlisting has been performed for Solar System exploration. But none yet for Astronomy.<br />Darwin is one of the astronomy missions proposed, with aim to discover and study Earth-like expolanets.<br /><br />http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=28<br /><br />Best regards.