KEPLER COMMISSIONING DATA RELEASED TO PUBLIC
NOV 6, 2009

The Kepler mission announces the first public release of Kepler time series data. Data for individual sources can be obtained from the MultiMission Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST). During a 10 day commissioning phase (termed Quarter 0) in May 2009, the Kepler spacecraft observed 52,463 sources in order to exercise the capabilities of the science instrument. During this phase, the Project Team observed mainly bright stars in the field of view to define operational parameters for the following Science Mission. After review of these data, 8,441 sources were dropped from further observation after Quarter 1 and the Quarter 0 dropped data are now available for public download. +read more

TARGET SEARCH FORM AND KEPLER INPUT CATALOG RELEASED BY MAST
SEP 18, 2009

The MAST Kepler web site is now public. Users may now query the 6 million row Kepler Target Search Form for selecting potential targets known to be on the CCD detector, or the Kepler Input Catalog for searching through 13 million objects in or near the Kepler field of view. +read more

KEPLER SPIES CHANGING PHASES IN A DISTANT WORLD
AUG 6, 2009

The Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities. These new data indicate the mission is indeed capable of finding Earth-like planets, if they exist. +read more

KASC TARGET LISTS FOR FIRST 140 DAYS OF THE MISSION RELEASED
JUN 24, 2009

The Kepler Astrosiesmic Science Consortium targets have been defined. The target lists contain 293 short cadence KASC targets during commissioning, 509 short cadence KASC targets and 1350 long cadence KASC targets during first roll and 1345 short cadence KASC targets and 1351 long cadence KASC during second roll. KASC will also get access to 1000 long cadence astrometric targets observed during the entire mission. +read more

FIRST SCHEDULED DATA DOWNLOAD
JUN 19, 2009

Kepler is more than 10,700,000 km from Earth and continues its planned drift-away orbit. Today, data collected continuously since science operations began on May 12, 2009 were downloaded to the Kepler Science Operations Center at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The data were collected from observing over 145,000 stars simultaneously. Scientists will begin in earnest the analysis of this data to search for other Earth-size planets. Engineers also completed Kepler's planned quarterly roll. This roll will ensure that Kepler's solar arrays are kept optimally positioned with respect to our sun for the next three months. Both the science data download, and the quarterly roll, are Kepler "firsts" in its planned three-and-a-half-year mission. +read more

KEPLER FOCUS IS OPTIMAL
MAY 23, 2009

The Kepler telescope's focus has been successfully optimized. This involved moving the primary mirror of the telescope toward the focal plane array, the area where light is focused, by 40 microns (1.6 thousandths of an inch) and tilting it by 0.0072 degrees. Various other calibrations are underway. +read more

KEPLER IS COLLECTING TIME SERIES DATA
MAY 17, 2009

Following a successful readiness review, Kepler began its search for planets around other stars at 5:01 p.m. Pacific Time (8:01 p.m. Eastern Time) on May 12, 2009. The first of the science data are scheduled to be sent down to Earth on June 18, at which point analysis of the data by the science team will commence. While it will take years to discover any Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zones of stars, in the months ahead, we expect to begin detecting large planets that orbit their stars closely. +read more

NASA'S KEPLER CAPTURES FIRST VIEWS OF PLANET-HUNTING TERRITORY
MAY 16, 2009

NASA's Kepler mission has taken its first images of the star-rich sky where it will soon begin hunting for planets like Earth. The first light images show the mission's target patch of sky, a vast starry field in the Cygnus-Lyra region of our Milky Way galaxy. One image shows millions of stars in Kepler's full field of view, while two others zoom in on portions of the larger region. +read more