Andrew Yee[_1_]
February 20th 08, 07:47 PM
Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Feb. 19, 2008
650-604-3937
RELEASE: 08-14AR
NASA AMES CONDUCTS TESTS OF KEPLER MISSION IMAGE DETECTORS
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- Sensitive detectors that may help find
habitable planets orbiting distant stars as part of NASA's Kepler
Mission are undergoing tests at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,
Calif.
Scheduled to launch in February 2009, the Kepler Mission will measure
tiny variations in the brightness of stars to find planets that pass
in front of them during their orbits. During these passes or
"transits" the planets will slightly decrease the star's brightness.
The detectors are similar to the image detectors found in a digital
camera, but much more sensitive.
"This is a major milestone for the Kepler mission," said David Koch,
deputy principal investigator for the Kepler Mission. "We will use
hardware identical to what we will be flying on Kepler in the test
bed at Ames. We will have the ability to create transits of a star so
that we can see the change in the star's brightness. By simulating
transits, we will be able to demonstrate that the flight hardware
will work," Koch explained.
Kepler mission scientists will determine the frequency of Earth-size
and larger planets in or near the habitable zone around other stars.
Although hundreds of larger, Jupiter-like planets composed of gas
already have been detected, Kepler mission scientists are seeking
smaller planets where water, and perhaps, life, could exist.
"We expect to find dozens of planets in the habitable zone of
solar-like stars that are terrestrial size, rocky planets, similar to
Earth," said William Borucki, Kepler's science principal
investigator. "We will learn whether Earths are common or rare in
our galaxy."
There will be 42 charge coupled devices (CCDs) used in the focal
plane of the telescope during the actual mission. Together, the 42
CCDs make up a large array measuring about a foot square in Kepler's
telescope. This is the largest array of CCD detectors ever flown in
space, Koch said.
In this month's Single String Transit Verification Test at Ames,
scientists will be testing only one CCD, measuring approximately
one-inch by two inches. Scientists will use a Kepler Technology
Demonstration test bed to generate a star field, a pattern of stars,
to represent that part of the sky where mission scientists will
search for transits. The tests will verify the detectors' ability to
measure the tiny light intensity variations.
In space, the array of detectors will be covered with sapphire
field-flattener lenses and use a telescope, which Borucki said will
search a region of sky 30,000 times larger that the Hubble Space
Telescope is able to observe.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames is the home
organization of the science principal investigator and is responsible
for the ground system development, mission operations and science
data analysis. Kepler mission development is managed by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the
Kepler flight system.
For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://kepler.nasa.gov/
For more information on NASA programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Feb. 19, 2008
650-604-3937
RELEASE: 08-14AR
NASA AMES CONDUCTS TESTS OF KEPLER MISSION IMAGE DETECTORS
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- Sensitive detectors that may help find
habitable planets orbiting distant stars as part of NASA's Kepler
Mission are undergoing tests at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,
Calif.
Scheduled to launch in February 2009, the Kepler Mission will measure
tiny variations in the brightness of stars to find planets that pass
in front of them during their orbits. During these passes or
"transits" the planets will slightly decrease the star's brightness.
The detectors are similar to the image detectors found in a digital
camera, but much more sensitive.
"This is a major milestone for the Kepler mission," said David Koch,
deputy principal investigator for the Kepler Mission. "We will use
hardware identical to what we will be flying on Kepler in the test
bed at Ames. We will have the ability to create transits of a star so
that we can see the change in the star's brightness. By simulating
transits, we will be able to demonstrate that the flight hardware
will work," Koch explained.
Kepler mission scientists will determine the frequency of Earth-size
and larger planets in or near the habitable zone around other stars.
Although hundreds of larger, Jupiter-like planets composed of gas
already have been detected, Kepler mission scientists are seeking
smaller planets where water, and perhaps, life, could exist.
"We expect to find dozens of planets in the habitable zone of
solar-like stars that are terrestrial size, rocky planets, similar to
Earth," said William Borucki, Kepler's science principal
investigator. "We will learn whether Earths are common or rare in
our galaxy."
There will be 42 charge coupled devices (CCDs) used in the focal
plane of the telescope during the actual mission. Together, the 42
CCDs make up a large array measuring about a foot square in Kepler's
telescope. This is the largest array of CCD detectors ever flown in
space, Koch said.
In this month's Single String Transit Verification Test at Ames,
scientists will be testing only one CCD, measuring approximately
one-inch by two inches. Scientists will use a Kepler Technology
Demonstration test bed to generate a star field, a pattern of stars,
to represent that part of the sky where mission scientists will
search for transits. The tests will verify the detectors' ability to
measure the tiny light intensity variations.
In space, the array of detectors will be covered with sapphire
field-flattener lenses and use a telescope, which Borucki said will
search a region of sky 30,000 times larger that the Hubble Space
Telescope is able to observe.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames is the home
organization of the science principal investigator and is responsible
for the ground system development, mission operations and science
data analysis. Kepler mission development is managed by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the
Kepler flight system.
For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://kepler.nasa.gov/
For more information on NASA programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov