Kepler
Robotic missionSuccessful; retired October 30, 2018
Kepler proves that planets are more common than stars and builds the first statistical census of exoplanets
Kepler launched on March 7, 2009 into earth-trailing . The 2,291 pounds (1,039 kilograms) spacecraft carried 0.95-meter schmidt telescope and 95-megapixel photometer measuring repeated stellar brightness changes. The original mission monitored more than 150,000 stars for transits; after two reaction-wheel failures, the sunlight-balanced K2 mission surveyed changing fields. Together they observed more than 500,000 stars and established more than 2,600 confirmed planets before fuel exhaustion.
Mission photo archive
Reviewed images documenting Kepler. Each image includes its source and credit.
Kepler photometer: full focal-plane first light
NASA identifies this image as a 60-second first-light exposure made by Kepler's complete 95-megapixel focal plane before science operations began.
Launch record
Explore this mission’s launch, including its vehicle, launch site, payload, and outcome.
Kepler
launch attemptDeep-space attemptcompletedNo reviewed launch image5 connectionsMission dossier
Flight profile, locations, hardware, and outcome in the same reference format used throughout the archive.
Flight profile
- Launch
- March 7, 2009[1]
Places and recovery
Mission record
- Operator
- NASA Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory[1]
- Mission type
- Uncrewed orbital astronomy observatory[1]
- Vehicle
- Kepler observatory[1]
- Launch vehicle
- Delta II 7925-10L[1]
- Launch mass
- 2,291 pounds (1,039 kilograms)[1]
- Program
- Discovery Program[1]
- Crew complement
- 0[1]
- Science payload
- 0.95-meter Schmidt telescope and 95-megapixel photometer measuring repeated stellar brightness changes[1]
- Outcome
- Successful; retired October 30, 2018[1]
Trajectory profile
3 sourcesFollow the mission from departure through its flight environment, destination, and final phase. This sequence is not a scale orbital plot.
Mission locations
3 sourcesDocumented surface, test, landing, and recovery locations. Map links use the cited place name or exact coordinates; AstronautAtlas does not geocode or estimate missing positions.
Departure or test site
Launch site
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Mission Purpose
3 sources- Measure planetary-transit frequencies and sizes around a large, consistently monitored stellar sample, emphasizing Earth-size worlds and the statistical architecture of planetary systems.
- Commission and calibrate Kepler observatory, its pointing, communications, power, thermal, detector, and science-processing systems.
- Conduct survey and guest-observer investigations and release calibrated measurements through a permanent public science archive.
- The original mission monitored more than 150,000 stars for transits; after two reaction-wheel failures, the sunlight-balanced K2 mission surveyed changing fields. Together they observed more than 500,000 stars and established more than 2,600 confirmed planets before fuel exhaustion.
Planned Flight Plan
3 sources- March 7, 2009
Kepler launches
Delta II 7925-10L sends the observatory toward its operating orbit.
- Deployment
Establish the observing platform
Controllers activate power, communications, pointing, thermal control, and instrument systems.
- Commissioning
Calibrate the payload
Science teams verify detector response, pointing, backgrounds, and archive products.
- Science operations
Kepler proves that planets are more common than stars and builds the first statistical census of exoplanets
The original mission monitored more than 150,000 stars for transits; after two reaction-wheel failures, the sunlight-balanced K2 mission surveyed changing fields. Together they observed more than 500,000 stars and established more than 2,600 confirmed planets before fuel exhaustion.
Mission Timeline
3 sources- March 7, 2009
Launch
Kepler begins aboard Delta II 7925-10L.
- Checkout
Observatory commissioning
Controllers validate the spacecraft and calibrate its astronomical instruments.
- Science milestone
Kepler proves that planets are more common than stars and builds the first statistical census of exoplanets
The original mission monitored more than 150,000 stars for transits; after two reaction-wheel failures, the sunlight-balanced K2 mission surveyed changing fields. Together they observed more than 500,000 stars and established more than 2,600 confirmed planets before fuel exhaustion.
- Recorded outcome
Successful; retired October 30, 2018
Kepler's calibrated observations remain available for continuing research.