VPL Team member Lucianne Walkowicz (Berkeley) is also a member of the Kepler scientific analysis team and works on understanding the photometric variability and flare frequency and strength for stars that serve as planetary hosts. Numerous researchers supported by the Astrobiology Program are working with data from Kepler to discover potentially habitable exoplanets.

Modeling by NAINASA Ames Research Center Co-I Jack Lissauer is being used to interpret observations of planets that Kepler discovers using theoretical models. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system, many of which could be promising places for life.

More than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system, many of which could be promising places for life. On October 30, 2018, NASA announced that Kepler had run out of fuel and was being retired within its safe orbit, away from Earth.

Relevance to Astrobiology

VPL Team member Drake Deming, with graduate student Holly Short, is developing new techniques to derive planetary atmospheric characteristics from combined Kepler data, also increasing the science yield of the mission. Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech. Kepler was a space telescope designed to survey a portion of the Milky Way galaxy in search of exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system. Small Habitable Zone Confirmed: 30, K2 The mission began new types of research as well, such as the study of objects within our solar system, exploded stars, and distant supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies.

Kepler The planet, TOI 700d, is the first Earth-size habitable-zone planet discovered by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Additionally, VPL Team member Eric Agol, who is also a Kepler guest observer, discovered the most potentially habitable planet to date in the Kepler data, and continues to develop planet detection algorithms to improve the science yield from the Kepler data.

Any reference in this website to any person, or organization, or activities, products, or services related to such person or organization, or any linkages from this web site to the web site of another party, do not constitute or imply the endorsement, recommendation, or favoring of the U.S. Government, NASA, or any of its employees or contractors acting on its behalf.

Confirmed Planets: 178. Amongst the Kepler discoveries is Kepler-186f, the first validated Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of a star other than the Sun. Results from this research are relevant in constraining the potential habitability of Earth-sized planets discovered by the Kepler mission. Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. 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. A handful of planets are thought to be rocky like Earth (but a bit bigger), and orbit in the habitable zone of their stars, where liquid water - an essential ingredient of life as we know it - might exist.

An important part of Kepler’s work was the identification of … An important part of Kepler’s work was the identification of Earth-size planets around distant stars. The NASA mission will identify planets with large orbits, similar to our solar system's far-flung giants, Uranus and Neptune. This work will inform future missions to characterize exoplanets and exomoons, and possibly identify signs of life by analyzing attributes of these distant worlds, such as atmospheric composition. The Kepler Mission was a space observatory designed to survey a specific portion of our region of the Milky Way galaxy.
Each rectangle indicates the specific region of the sky covered by each CCD element of the Kepler photometer. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed Kepler mission development.

The Kepler Mission was a space observatory designed to survey a specific portion of our region of the Milky Way galaxy. K2 still hunted for planets, but it scanned a larger swath of sky than before, along the ecliptic plane. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. NASA Planet Hunter Finds Earth-Size Habitable-Zone World, Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Randal Jackson, Naomi Hartono. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. Revived as the K2 mission and now in its fifth observing campaign, the spacecraft continues to operate beautifully.