NASA's Kepler spacecraft will search for worlds that could host life. It is the first mission with the ability to find planets similar to Earth-rocky planets that orbit Sun-like stars in a warm zone where liquid water could be maintained on the surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.rn"Kepler is a critical component in NASA's broader efforts to ultimately find and study planets where Earth-like conditions may be present," says Jon Morse, the Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "The planetary census Kepler takes will be very important for understanding the frequency of Earth-size planets in our galaxy and planning future missions that directly detect and characterize such worlds around nearby stars."
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