Up, up and away!
I am here at the Kennedy Space Center for Friday’s launch of the Kepler mission to find Earth-sized planets. Mind you, I don’t work on Kepler, but some of my nearest and dearest do, so this time I’m here strictly as tourist and cheerleader. It’s nice just to relax with friends and family this time and enjoy the launch.
The last time I was here was August, 2003 for the Spitzer Space Telescope launch. Like Spitzer, Kepler will fly on a Delta II Heavy rocket. Also like Spitzer, Kepler will go into a heliocentric orbit - meaning it will orbit the Sun, rather than the Earth. It will slowly drift away from the Earth over the years, so it needs to fly east to pick up speed from the Earth’s rotation. This is why it has to launch from the Kennedy Space Center: since Kepler has to fly east, we don’t want it going over the continental United States. If something were to go wrong and the rocket had to self-destruct, we want the pieces falling into the ocean instead of on cities. Since my project, WISE, will be going into a polar Earth orbit, meaning that its orbit runs over the Earth’s north and south poles, we need to go north when we launch. This means we go out of the Vandenberg Test Range on the West Coast in California, so that we avoid lifting off over the Eastern Seaboard. Here is a movie that shows the launch sequence for Spitzer: first the solid motors and main engine ignite; the solids burn out and detach, followed by the main engine; next, the second stage motor starts.
However, Kepler weighs somewhat more than Spitzer, so it requires a third stage to do the final orbital insertion burn. This third stage motor is spin-stabilized, meaning that the spacecraft will be spun up to a dizzying 50 rotations per minute in order to ensure that it goes in the right direction (similar to a bullet). It will be despun using a seemingly unlikely mechanism - two yo-yo-like devices deploy to take up the angular momentum, sort of the reverse of an ice skater drawing his arms inward to spin faster.
Needless to say, a lot has to go right for all this to work. But the Delta rocket is the most reliable in the business, with well over 300 launches to date and only a 2% failure rate. Those are good odds. The project has been undergoing extensive reviews to ensure that the same thing that killed OCO (the failure of the Taurus fairing) will not happen to the Delta. My mission, WISE, will also fly on a Delta. The review panel has cleared Kepler for liftoff tomorrow night. The weather is the best it can be, clear and calm.
Go Delta II, and go Kepler!
March 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Hello Dr Mainzer
Speaking of finding new planets… is there any real evidence that might suggest the possibility of an undiscovere dlong orbit planet, the supposed “planet X”. I’ve read some stuff that suggests there are influences on the orbits of Uranus and Neptune, that couldn’t possibly be casued by a body the size of Pluto. But I never heard if these observations were explained or not. I also was intrigued by the Nemisis theory, about the possibility of a companion brown dwarf star to our own Sun which orbit at a very long interval and disturbs comets of the Ort Cloud as it passes through, throwing those comets into the inner solar system. Thich could explain the strange clockwork of extinction level events in Earths history. The theory sounds very logical to me, especially since the majority of systems in the Galaxy are binary or trinary… but is there any evidence or observations to support it? Finally, I’ve also hear about a plan to send a submersible to Europa, since it is believed to have a liquid ocean under the ice covered surface, and thus the best place to find life elsewheer in our solar system if it exists… But is there any real planing for this?
March 7th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I’ve been waiting for Kepler for a long time and I’m going to be sweating bullets until the testeing and calibration phase is over. I even stayed up late to watch NASA television on my computer. This mission is the most exciting to me since the Hubble Space Telescope. What a great moment it will be when the Kepler team announces it’s first Earth like planet find.
I remember when Voyager II flew by Neptune and I was home with pneumonia. NASA TV back then was very new and I couldn’t find the remote control so for three or four days I watched as pictures of the planet built up line by line only to dissolve and start to build again. After a bit, I gave up even looking for the remote and just enjoyed the pictures of Neptune slowly being reproduced on my screen.
I grew up just North of Ellington AFB in the 1960s and almost everyone in my neighborhood either worked at Ellington or NASA. I had astronauts for my neighbors but it wasn’t until that week in 1989 that I became rapt by the imagery and then Hubble launched and I’ve hooked ever since.
March 8th, 2009 at 5:26 am
I’m with Margaret: addicted to NASA. I could stare at Hubble’s image of the Eagle Nebula forever. And the deep field is mind-boggling. Infinities of scale make my brain go zzzzt. The deep field is both humbling and comforting.
You have a neat job, Amy. You get to learn entirely new things. Do we have any idea how long after WISE’s launch that the public will get to see its IR images?
March 9th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Does “Earth-sized” refer to dimension or mass?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Hi, Damian-
The so-called Nemesis hypothesis, which postulates that the Sun has an unseen companion that was alleged to have caused periodic mass extinctions, is dead. A closer examination of the “periodic” extinctions revealed that they were actually not periodic: there is no clockwork to them. Also, scientists have found little evidence that asteroid or comet impacts coincided with most extinction events, with the K/T impact being the only really solid exception. However, it is still possible that there is another planet way out in the solar system in a stable orbit that we haven’t yet found. Current surveys like the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) have ruled out companions down to 35 times the mass of Jupiter; WISE will push that down to much lower mass limits.
Wes, WISE will release its first public images one month after the survey starts.
Sean, Earth-sized refers to their dimension. Kepler detects planets by seeing their parent stars briefly dim as the planet passes in front of them. This leads to a direct measurement of the planet’s radius, but not its mass – mass must instead be inferred from a model of the planet’s density. This so-called transit technique differs from the radial velocity technique of planet finding, which senses the wobble caused by a planet tugging on the star; RV instead provides a more direct measurement of mass, and the radius must be inferred from a model.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I haven’t been able to find any updates on the condition of Kepler and the progress of the calibration phase. Even the NASA website has almost nothing about it. Any suggestions of where I can look to keep up to date on the mission’s status? Thanks.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Hi, Margaret-
You’re right, there isn’t much info out there. It might be worth sending an email to the curator of their website to suggest that they update it. Right now they’re in the process of waking up the spacecraft and the instrument, and so far everything is looking really good. The whole in-orbit checkout process takes a couple of months for Kepler, so they’re not out of the woods yet, of course.
We’re in the process of making our media plan for WISE, so I’ll be watching for ways that we can improve things like this. By contrast, WISE’s in-orbit checkout phase is only one month, so it’s going to be extremely hectic.
March 10th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for the fast response and the good news Amy. I have tried to write the site administrator at NASA on several occasions and they have been unresponsive at best. I guess cancer researchers don’t carry a lot of clout with the space program folks. Now that it’s under new management, perhaps they’ll be more open to ideas from the outside. Thanks again for the info. “Everything is looking really good”, is the best, (and most), news I’ve seen from a reliable source since launch day. Really looking forward to WISE too. What an exciting time for space science!
March 13th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Jake from baghdad again.. I just had a few questions. What kind of x zoom does Kepler have and is it visible light or a different wave length?
Also.. Where would i go to see the requirements for any of the Nasa research facilities?? If i do go back school, i want to base my schooling around Nasa requirements. Turn my focus from watching rockets hurt humanity to watching them launch into space to advance humanity!
If it wasn’t for the second season of “The Universe” and the “Inside NASA” I would be staring at a wall over here on my free time. 6 more months till I come home! Please pray for us!
Jake McGarvey
Bco 2-112th Infantry
US Army
March 16th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I like this blog, its interesting and not to technical so I don’t feel stupid while reading it. ^_^
March 17th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Hi, Jake-
Not sure of Kepler’s magnification, but it does use visible light, a broadband filter that collects light all the way from blue through red.
To become a member of the technical staff at a place like JPL, you usually need a bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, or math. There are hundreds of engineers here, spanning all different disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, systems, etc. On the science side, most astronomers have doctorates. The best thing to do is get a bachelor’s degree in physics and while you’re doing that, join a research group to get hands-on experience. That will help you figure out what you want to work on in graduate school. JPL has paid summer internships for college students, which you can find at http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/higher_ed/index.html. To get an idea of some of the careers that are available at JPL, take a look at some of the job postings at http://careerlaunch.jpl.nasa.gov.
If you’re coming home in six months, you may want to start looking at different colleges now so you can be ready to apply in the fall. Especially if you’ve got access to the GI Bill, you should go for it. The future awaits!
March 18th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I like what Chris wrote. We need a good spokesperson in your field like you to spark interest and set the facts straight. I’m sure you will have a fan in my 15 yr old daughter. She nearly freaked when I bought her an 8″ reflector for her birthday. Thank you.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Did I say good? I meant GREAT.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:18 am
Hi Dr. Mainzer. Since I was a child I really liked all issues related to the space and the universe. I have to confess that I’m mostly just a TV universe/space watcher although I’ve read many white papers and books about it.
Since the days when I was captured by “Cosmos” (with the excellent presentation of Carl Sagan) I wondered why such an interesting issues never were presented as they deserved. For a long while I’ve followed and watched many series and documentals about space missions, space research and so on. Always, with a lot of good and professional people but (mostly) without that special touch that Carl Sagan put in his show. Then, recently when the new TV series “The Universe” appeared I noticed the new approach taken for it.
I’m really glad that you be part of that new approach. Who knows? Maybe we’re watching the new Carl Sagan generation.
Congratulations because of your scientific work and thanks for making more interesting the universe/space/cosmos things for everybody with all your participation in “The Universe” series. Now, when I try to explain something to my friends about the scientific research on space, one of my resources is to use your videos in the web: one image and or one video explain more than 1000 words.
Thanks a lot and greetings,
José
October 19th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Dr. Mainzer
Will these Space based Extra Solar Planet detectors be able to detect the atmosphere type of these planets using spectra analysis?
Raymond Bautista
Cancer Survivor
Neuroblastoma Stage IV
Founder of The Kids cancer Tree
November 5th, 2009 at 3:23 am
Dear Dr. Mainzer,
I have a somewhat odd favor to ask you, but I feel it’s important enough to bother you with.
In our contemporary times, there is an unfortunate contraversy regarding language, specifically the use of the word “theory”.
In common parlance, the word theory is used to denote someone’s speculation on whatever subject is being discussed, such as “I have a theory that the Yankees will win”. I’m sure you’ve heard that use, and probably, like I have, used it that way yourself.
Unfortunately, the colloquialism has done some damage to science in general, and in specific, to the public’s understanding of Scientific Theory.
Instead of using the proper term “hypothesis” to describe what is basically an educated guess, scientists revert to the common usage when explaining some kind of mysterious phenomenon.
Now we find that opponents of certain Theories, like Evolution by Natural Selection, can muddle the arguments in the public arena by reverting to the intrinsically dishonest but ignorantly convincing argument “Evolution is JUST a Theory”. For the public, this statement is a powerful argument, because of the common usage. In fact, Evolution is Fact, and the word Theory in this case denotes that, just like the Theory of Electromagnetism describes Fact, just like the Heliocentric Theory describes Fact.
I have the pleasure of catching glimpses of you on The History Channel’s The Universe (in HD, by the way; Spectacular), and I can’t help but notice that the words Theory and Hypothesis are used in a manner that would make them seem interchangeable, and unfortunately, that does nothing to help the scientific literacy of our country.
A few weeks ago I had the honor of seeing Professor Richard Dawkins in Manhattan and was able to ask a question on this very subject. In fact, in his new book, right in the beginning, he also makes the same point.
Perhaps you can make the History Channel aware of this problem? We are fortunate to live during a time in human history when such deep knowledge is readily available to the masses, and we should always strive to be as accurate as possible. Otherwise, we leave the door open for charlatans and opportunists to take advantage of our innocent mistakes and push their backward ignorance on the masses and maintain whatever status have because of that ignorance.
Thank you for taking your time to read my note, and thank you for your great work both on and off my TV.
Warmest regards,
Abe