02.24.09
In preparation for a March 5 launch, the Kepler spacecraft was successfully mated to its rocket today in the mobile service tower on Launch pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
As shown in the photo, the upper part of the metal transportation canister was removed from around NASA's Kepler spacecraft, and the spacecraft was mated with the Delta II rocket for launch. The liftoff of Kepler is currently scheduled for 10:48 p.m. EST March 5.
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.
Click here for more photos of the Kepler spacecraft being prepared for launch.
|
