However now, with the launch of Kepler, the mankind is finally given a real chance to better figure out what’s out there, whether these analog-Earths truly exist, and whether they (could) support life.

 

Overall, scientists have managed to identify planets outside of our solar system that generally resemble Jupiter, but the real purpose of Kepler is to go beyond that and find smaller rocky planets that resemble our own.

 

Scientists have now high expectations that Kepler, the first mission of the kind, will find planets that orbit stars like our own and are habitable. Such planets need of course to support liquid water, at least if we expect to find life as we know it, scientists said.

 

Kepler’s mission will last for 3.5 years (according to scientists, it will take at least three years to confirm the existence of an Earth-like planet), and will survey the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Kepler will detect planets by looking for periodic dips in the brightness of stars.

 

 The wide angle camera Kepler has equipped goes beyond the capacity of any other space surveying camera ever launched into space, and it’s telescope is so powerful that it could detect one person in a small town turning off a porch light, as NASA explained.