NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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.

	Photo Left: Depiction of star field to be studied. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart Click on the image for full-resolution.
	Photo Left: Janice Voss, a scientist who worked on Kepler, studies a field plate, or identifier. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart Click on the image for full-resolution.
	Photo Left: Technician from Ball Aerospace works on the test chamber at NASA Ames Research Center. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart Click on the image for full-resolution.
	Photo Left: Technician from Ball Aerospace works on the test chamber at NASA Ames Research Center. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center Click on the image for full-resolution.
	Photo Left: Kepler chamber that has been assembled for testing. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center Click on the image for full-resolution.
	Photo Left: Technician from Ball Aerospace works on the test chamber at NASA Ames Research Center. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center Click on the image for full-resolution.