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Corning Technology Used to Discover Other Earth-Like Planets

December 2011
On December 5, 2011, NASA announced that an unmanned rocket, equipped with what’s known as the “Kepler satellite telescope,” discovered an Earth-like planet outside of our solar system. The telescope responsible for locating the new planet is equipped with a mirror produced by Corning Incorporated.

The planet, named “Kepler-22b,” was discovered approximately 600 light years away, and nearly three years after the March 2009 rocket launch. With a surface temperature of about 72 degrees Fahrenheit, Kepler-22b could be inhabitable.

Corning has been an integral part of NASA’s space exploration programs. Within the past 50 years, Corning has produced many of the glass windows used in manned space missions, the mirror for the Hubble Telescope, and now the mirror in the Kepler satellite telescope responsible for locating Kepler-22b.

Corning’s Canton, N.Y. facility produced the mirror in 2004, in preparation for NASA’s March 2009 launch. Made from Corning’s ULE® glass, a proprietary ultra-low thermal expansion fused silica glass, the mirror is a highly engineered glass disc which took about 10 months to complete. The primary mirror is 1.41 meters in diameter.

The discovery of Kepler-22b is an important milestone, and Corning is proud to have been part of the Kepler mission.