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Astronomy & Space Science · Recorded milestone

Kepler planet hunter

Recorded year2009

NASA's Kepler finds thousands of exoplanets by watching stars dim.

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Built on

Stored-program computerRecorded · 1948requires
Silicon solar cellRecorded · 1954requires
First satelliteRecorded · 1957requires
CCD image sensorRecorded · 1969enables
MicroprocessorRecorded · 1971requires
Planet around a Sun-like starRecorded · 1995enables

Led to

Habitable Worlds Observatory launchForecast · ~2041enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.