Kepler space telescope
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The Kepler space telescope was a space telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched into
Kepler in Astrotech's Hazardous Processing Facility
Kepler's search volume, in the context of the Milky Way
Kepler's launch on March 7, 2009
Interior illustration of Kepler
Space Interferometry Mission
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The Space Interferometry Mission, or SIM, also known as SIM Lite, was a planned space telescope proposed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in conjunction with contractor North
Artist's concept of the SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory in space
A 2006 artist's impression of the SIM Lite predecessor, SIM PlanetQuest, design
This chart depicts the potential number of habitable planets and other planets that SIM Lite was expected to detect. The number of one-Earth mass planets assumes 40% of mission time is assigned to the search.
SIM Lite would have been able to detect Earth-sized planets, such as in this artist's rendering.