Finding life on other worlds has long been the dream of many explorers and with the help of NASA's Kepler spacecraft.
that search may one day soon bear fruit.
The Kepler Mission is designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy.
looking to discover hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in habitable zones.
(Nats: Zero and liftoff of the Delta II rocket with Kepler)
The Delta II rocket carrying Kepler lifted off at 10:49 p.m. Eastern Time on March 6. 2009 from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. lighting up the night sky.
Kepler is now exploring the structure and diversity of planetary systems.
currently surveying a large sample of about 100.000 stars like the sun.
The observatory's place in space will allow it to watch the same stars constantly throughout its mission.
something observatories such as NASA's Hubble Space Telescope cannot do.
Kepler will continue exploring until at least November 2012. searching for planets
where liquid water could exist on the surface. and perhaps even life as well.