Kepler spacecraft teleskop-e fazâyi-ye Kepler Fr.: télescope spatial de Kepler A → NASA space telescope launched in March 2009 to discover Earth-size planets using the → transit method. The telescope has a diameter of 0.95 m and its only instrument is a → photometer that continuously monitors the brightness of over 145,000 → main sequence stars in a fixed field of view of 115 deg2 (about 12° diameter). The expected mission lifetime is 3.5 years extendible to at least 6 years. In honor of Johannes → Kepler; → spacecraft. |