2009-011A
Kepler is a search for Earth-sized planets with orbital periods less than two years by transit photometry, studying a single field with 1E5 stars at 1941+349, l,b=69.6+5.7 covering the lower half of Cygnus between gamma and beta. between M29 and M56, for four years. It was selected as a Discovery mission in Dec 2001.
Kepler carries a 0.95-meter aperture Schmidt telescope with a 1.4-meter primary mirror and a 12 degree field of view, with an array of 42 CCD cameras each 2200 x 1024 pixels. The images from each star are intentionally defocussed to a resolution of 10 arcseconds for added precision; the system can monitor the 4000-8500A brightness of magnitude 14 stars every 15 minutes to less than 100 micromag. At least 50 Earth-sized planets are predicted to be found.
The mission depends on the assumption that most stars are like the Sun in that they don't vary much on timescales of minutes to hours.
Kepler will download its photometric data once a week to the Deep Space Network.
NASA-ARC PI; built by Ball.
Mass is 1052 kg including 12 kg of hydrazine. Size is 2.7m dia 4.7m long. Launch by Delta 7925-10L into solar orbit with 371 day period.
20 ppm in 6.5 hr at V=12. Detect Earths to 1AU around targets.
Dust cover ejection 7.5 or 7.74kg 1.1m/s 1.7 x 1.4m.
In 2013 a 10 day safemode was used to protect the degrading reaction wheels.
| Kepler | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 Mar 7 | 0349:57 | Launch by Delta 7925-10L | KSC SLC17B |
| T+1:03 GEM 1-6 out | |||
| T+1:06 GEM 7-9 on | |||
| T+1:06 GEM 1-6 sep | |||
| T+2:08 GEM 7-9 out | |||
| T+2:11 GEM 7-9 sep | |||
| 0354 | T+4:23 MECO | ||
| T+4:29 VECO | |||
| T+4:31 St 1 sep | |||
| T+4:36 SEIG-1 | |||
| T+4:41 Fairing sep | |||
| 0359:53 | T+9:56 SECO-1 185 x 185 x 28.5 | ||
| 0443:07 | T+53:10 SEIG-2 | ||
| 0444:10 | T+54:13 SECO-2 | 174 x 2815 x 28.55 (s) | |
| 0445 | Stage 2 sep | ||
| 109.85 166 x 2273 x 28.56 | |||
| 0445:30 | T+55:33 TES | ||
| 0446:57 | T+57:00 TECO 202 km | ||
| 0451:40 | T+1:01:43 Yo-yo deploy | ||
| 0451:45 | T+1:01:48 Stage 3 sep | ||
| 0455:30 | T+1:05:33 Target point 1530 km | 184.3 km, C3=0.60 | |
| 0655 | Pass GEO | 185 x -1372167 x 28.54 | |
| 2009 Mar 7 | SES-3 | ||
| SECO-3 depletion | 2246 x 7360 x 28.55 | ||
| 1733 | Pass EL1:4 | ||
| 2009 Mar 9 | 0436 | Pass lunar orbit | |
| 2009 Mar 14 | 0339 | Range 929000 km, leave Earth sphere | |
| 2009 Mar 20 | 1140 | Range 1.49E6 km | |
| 1236 | Booster leaves Earth sphere | ||
| 2009 Apr 8 | 0218 | Dust cover ejected Range 3.1Mkm | |
| 2009 Apr 20 | 0000 | Range 4.5M km | 0.967 x 1.041 AU x 0.5 deg |
| 2013 Jan 17 | Begin 10 day safemode | ||
Payload:
- Kepler telescope-photometer, 1m Schmidt
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