KSC-2009-1477

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Hazardous Processing Facility at Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., the final cover is removed from NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler will be fueled for launch. 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, including those that lie in a star's "habitable zone," a region where liquid water, and perhaps life, could exist. If these Earth-size worlds do exist around stars like our sun, Kepler is expected to be the first to find them and the first to measure how common they are. The liftoff of Kepler aboard a Delta II rocket is currently planned for 10:48 p.m. EST March 5 from Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs

Date: 2009-02-03
Collection: KSC
Archive: NASA Image and Video Library
Type: photograph