Kepler
Unlocked the habitable universe
Kepler was specifically designed to survey a portion of our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover planets in or near the habitable zone of their stars and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets. Results from this mission have allowed us to place our solar system within the continuum of planetary systems in the Galaxy. Kepler has collected a treasure trove of data for science that will be mined for many years to come.
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Launch Date: March 6, 2009
Decommission Date: October 30, 2018
Mission Duration: 9.5 years
Lead Institution: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lead Funding Agency: NASA’s Discovery Program
Partners: NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ball Aerospace, SETI Institute, Lawrence Hall of Science, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Space Telescope Science Institute