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Happy Birthday Kepler
03.06.2012

Today marks the three year anniversary since the Kepler spacecraft lifted off on its journey to detect planets beyond our solar system, surveying a Cygnus-Lyra portion of sky to help us better understand our place in the universe. The team at NASA Ames Research Center is having a modest celebration, but we are inviting the wider Kepler community and Kepler-philes to share thoughts, stories, and memorable moments connected with the mission via Kepler Twitter (@NASAKepler) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/NASAsKeplerMission).

Happy birthday collage - spacecraft, cake with 3 candles, and launch photo
Kepler was launched March 6, 2009 (night launch).
Collage by NASA Kepler Education and Public Outreach.

See also the article, Searching for Sister Planets
from the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division about how the Pleiades supercomputer plays an essential role in Kepler's prodigious planet discoveries.

Artist's concept depicting the circumbinary planet called Kepler-16b (black circle) as it orbits a slowly rotating K-dwarf star and a small red dwarf star. The planetary orbital plane is aligned within half a degree of the stellar binary orbital plane. R. Hurt, NASA/JPL-Caltech
Artist's concept depicting the circumbinary planet called Kepler-16b (black circle) as it orbits a slowly rotating K-dwarf star and a small red dwarf star. The planetary orbital plane is aligned within half a degree of the stellar binary orbital plane. R. Hurt, NASA/JPL-Caltech

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