

NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Discovers Extraordinary New Planetary System - civilian
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/new_planetary_system.html

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cryptoz
I'm going to be hanging on to the edge of my seat for the next two years,
waiting and waiting for that most incredible and exciting announcement! I can
just hear it now: "We have found seven Earth-mass planets orbiting sun-like
stars in the goldilocks zone. One of them is 15 light years away"

Exoplanet discovery is by far the most exciting thing happening right now. In
any field. It's incredible!

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AndrewO
I know what you mean. Every time I hear something like this (but especially
when it's within 10s of light years) I think "Time to bring back Project
Orion!"

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cryptoz
There's a Kepler Mission Ops Controller answering questions on reddit right
now:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/fe0ps/ive_done_this_b...](http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/fe0ps/ive_done_this_before_and_received_little_interest/)

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robryan
Interesting comment on reddit about Earth like planets:

 _As stated above, I don't see the data... However, I feel I can say beyond
probability that yes, there are a LOT of goldilocks planets waiting for
verification. I am unsure of the amount, but I would be surprised if it were
less than Order[1000]. You bet it detects planets that small :)_

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Eliezer
Someday humankind will colonize the galaxies, but by the time we get there we
won't give a tinker's damn about "habitable planets". Interstellar travel is
not for protein minds.

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robryan
It's interesting with Kepler that the majority of peoples interests lie in
finding a planet which has the potential to host life as we know it, whereas
for the scientists on the project and those doing follow up observations every
system discovered like this is essentially rewriting the assumptions on
planetary formation.

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civilian
I was really sad to hear that it was 2,000 light years away. However, this
discovery still helps us understand what planetary systems are possible.

~~~
ComputerGuru
At this point, it really doesn't matter how far _anything_ is - with the tech
available to us in the here and now, anything more than a few years' journey
(at conventional speeds even, not in lightyears) is just too far.

Whatever breakthrough it is that'll let us get half a lightyear away will get
us to 2,000 lightyears away. But until then, nada.

Think of all this as an over-eager child researching what his parents (errr,
Santa, I mean) will get him for next Christmas 11 months from now - planning
and fantasizing about every last detail, even though there's just no rushing
it.

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nika
Whenever I see these news releases, I instinctively look to see if there's an
earthlike planet, or a likely candidate, and feel let down if there isn't one.

I guess I'm ready to go!

