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 an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit. The principal investigator was William J. Borucki. After nine and a half years of operation, the telescope's reaction control system fuel was depleted, and NASA announced its retirement on October 30, 2018.
Key Facts
| Subject | Kepler space telescope |
| Category | NASA space telescope for exoplanetology (2009–2018) |
| Reading time | 1 min · Intermediate |
| Key date | 2009 |
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