A new instrument being built by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for use in the Canary Islands will help NASA’s planet-scouting Kepler spacecraft confirm and characterize potential ...

The search for planets outside our solar system continues to heat up. NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has located more than 1,200 planetary candidates; however, confirming them remains a challenge. In some ...

One of NASA’s most popular and successful missions has hit a disabling technical snag, the agency announced Wednesday. A reaction wheel on the Kepler spacecraft has become stuck, say NASA engineers.

A new instrument being built by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for use in the Canary Islands will help NASA's planet-scouting Kepler spacecraft confirm and characterize potential ...

There’s something intriguing about the unknown, especially when it’s hurtling towards our solar system. Astronomers and ...

May the faint chemical signals drifting through the atmosphere of a distant world be the long-sought message that we are not alone. Astronomers have reported seeing an unusual and strong combination ...

Today should be a historic moment for the field of astronomy. With a single data release, the team behind NASA's Kepler instrument has nearly doubled the number of extrasolar planets we're aware of, ...

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has two new contracts to build instruments for NASA spacecraft. NASA Ames Research Center awarded Ball an initial $13.4-million contract to design and build a ...

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — The Kepler space telescope will be unable to achieve all of its mission goals unless NASA doubles the mission's length, say scientists working with the prolific planet-hunting ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- The search for planets outside our solar system continues to heat up. NASA's Kepler spacecraft has located more than 1,200 planetary candidates, however confirming them remains a ...