Kepler Research Paper

This paper is an overview of the Kepler spacecraft and its mission in space. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA), Kepler, named after Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler, “is a space observatory launched…to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.” Kepler does this by searching for planets within our galaxy that have a similar size to Earth within a habitable zone. A habitable zone is a distance between the planet and its star where water can exist on the planet’s surface. Additionally, Kepler is aimed at searching for planets with similar one-year orbits like that of Earth. As technology advances on Earth, increased standards of living and life expectancies have taken a toll on Earth’s fleeting, finite resources. Kepler potentially provides scientists with information regarding planets that can serve as a future home when resources have diminished and information that can foreshadow inevitabilities about Earth through older, Earth-like planets.

Kepler’s primary mission is to discover extrasolar planets within a habitable zone that have sizes relatively similar to that of Earth’s; previous planetary research detected giant planets that were much more massive than Earth. In addition to detection, Kepler is designed to examine the planets and stars that reside in the Earth-like planet’s system. Analysis includes how many planets and stars are in the system, orbit ranges, masses, densities, and whether there are any giant planets in the system. According to the NASA Exoplanet Archive, Kepler has found 961 confirmed exoplanets in more than 76 stellar systems, as well as 2,903 unconfirmed planets.

Kepler was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 6, 2009 at 10:49:57 p.m. Easte...

... middle of paper ...

...sly repercussions on Kepler’s mission because three functioning wheels are necessary for its precision and accuracy. After attempts of troubleshooting the errors, NASA had deemed that Kepler was no longer capable of continuing its current mission. Towards the end of 2013, a new mission, Second Light, was proposed for Kepler’s remaining capabilities. This mission involves the collection of data of star formation, solar-system bodies, and supernova explosions.

In summary, this paper will discuss the Kepler spacecraft, its mission, and the results of its mission. The Kepler mission has, thus far, provided invaluable information regarding extrasolar planets and systems. Although Kepler can no longer continue its primary mission, Second Light has presented researchers the opportunity to salvage Kepler’s functions and add to the set of data Kepler has already collected.