Kepler Mission focal plane assembly. The focal plane consists of an array of 42 charge coupled devices (CCDs). Each CCD is 2.8 by 3.0 centimetres with 1024 by 1100 pixels. The entire focal plane contains 95 mega pixels. 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. Photographed at a Ball Aerospace facility.