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Earth Hunting

That's pretty accurate a description of the astonishing job that Kepler is performing. Hopefully, in the next year or so, it will become as common place a name as Hubble is today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/science/space/31planet.html?_r=1&hp

And of course there will be people who will question the rationale behind these missions. I am sure people must have doubted the wisdom of Columbus going on his voyage or Magellan going on his centuries ago.

Humankind's innermost instinct has always been to be explorers. We're lucky that in spite of great difficulties, that human spirit is still being kept alive ... if barely.
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