Images: NASA's Kepler to seek Earth-like planets

Kepler stands shrouded by part of the fairing atop the Delta II rocket that will lift it into space from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The fairing creates an aerodynamic nose cone over the spacecraft during its transit through the atmosphere and will break away after that. (Not to jinx anything for Kepler, but a fairing that failed to separate properly spelled doom in late February for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite.)

Liftoff for Kepler is scheduled for 10:49 p.m. EST on Friday.

Photo by NASA/Jack Pfaller

Caption by Jonathan Skillings