Kepler Spacecraft

NASA's first mission capable of finding Earth-size and smaller planets around other stars

The United States has launched a space telescope whose three-year mission is to find Earth-like planets in the Milky Way.

The centuries-old quest for other worlds like our Earth has been rejuvenated by the intense excitement and popular interest surrounding the discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other stars.

There is now clear evidence for substantial numbers of three types of exoplanets;gas giants, hot-super-Earths in short period orbits, and ice giants. The following websites are tracking the day-by-day increase in new discoveries and are providing information on the characteristics of the planets