Kepler Mission primary mirror inspection. This mirror was made by Corning Glass Works out of ULE (ultra-low expansion) glass. The optical polishing of the mirror was performed by Brashear LP. NASA's Kepler Mission is designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. A 0.95 metre diameter telescope called a photometer will scan 100,000 stars in the Milky Way for evidence of Earth-sized terrestrial planets that transit the star's path. The mission was launched on March 7th, 2009, and will orbit the Sun for at least 3.5 years. The mission is named in honour of German astronomer Johannes Kepler. Photographed at a Ball Aerospace facility.