Kepler On Track After Successful Launch

Aviation Week ^ | 03/09/09 | Michael Mecham

[KevinDavis]

A trouble-free countdown and nominal launch into clear skies sent NASA's Kepler mission to find planets outside our Solar System on its way March 6 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The 2,320-pound spacecraft, built by Ball Aerospace, was lifted into an Earth-trailing orbit by a United Launch Alliance Delta II from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

[KevinDavis]

[cripplecreek]

Earth Trailing orbit?

Does that mean it doesn’t orbit the earth but follows?

[KevinDavis]

I guess..

[Incorrigible]

Beam me up Scotty; there’s no intelligent life down here.

[sheikdetailfeather]

I was able to watch it go up and the night launches are gorgeous! The horizon becomes gold and then it is a huge gold light in the sky even from fifty miles away from the launch site where I am! The sky was clear so I got a great view of it.

[DevNet]

Yes - it is in orbit around the Sun following Earth.

[callisto]

Does that mean it doesn’t orbit the earth but follows?

Yes. It will drift behind Earth as it circles the Sun. The Spitzer Space telescope pioneered the use of Earth-trailing orbits. An advantage of this type of orbit is the clarity of the star field provided.

[cripplecreek]

An Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit with a period of 372.5 days provides the optimum approach to meeting of the combined Sun-Earth-Moon avoidance criteria within the Boeing 7925-10L (Delta-II) launch vehicle capability (launch videos). In this orbit the spacecraft slowly drifts away from the Earth and is at a distance of 0.5 AU (worst case) at the end of four years. Telecommunications and navigation for the mission are provided by NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN).

Another advantage of this orbit is that it has a very-low disturbing torque on the spacecraft, which leads to a very stable pointing attitude. Not being in Earth orbit means that there are no torques due to gravity gradients, magnetic moments or atmospheric drag. The "largest" external torque then is that caused by solar pressure. This orbit also avoids the high radiation dosage associated with an Earth orbit, but from time to time is subject to solar flares

Launch Vehicle and Orbit

Orbit diagrams and details at the site.

[DevNet]

If we keep posting about the Earth orbiting the Sun we are going to piss some people off.

[divine_moment_of_facts]

..95 megapixel..

Now that's a camera!

[GeronL]

how far behind Earth will it trail?

[cripplecreek]

Screw em, they can take a walk off the edge of the earth.

[KevinDavis]

LOL!!!!! We would have been burnt at the stake back then..

[GeronL]

whoa. thats a lot.

[cripplecreek]

[DevNet]

And they are hand picked custom designed CMOS sensors.

They are very very nice.

[Drango]

There seems to be a fuel limitation that restricts Kepler to 3.5-6 years. (Which seems short to this layperson) I assume it’s because it’s in an orbit trailing the earth? Any chance they can extend it’s life beyond 6 years ala Hubble?

[cripplecreek]

From the site I linked to it sounds like there’s a possibility of extending it’s life for about two extra years.