Countdown to NASA search for Earth-like planets

The U.S. space agency NASA will launch its first ever mission Friday to find Earth-like planets in our region of the Milky Way.

Scientists will be holding their breath as the Kepler spacecraft — mounted with the biggest telescope ever to be launched into space — lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

“Everything about the mission is optimized to find Earth-size planets with the potential for life, to help us answer the question — are Earths bountiful or is our planet unique?,” said the man leading the mission, Bill Borucki, science principal investigator for the mission at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Scientists will be hoping for more success than last week when NASA’s $273 million dollar Orbiting Carbon Observatory failed to reach orbit and plunged into the ocean within minutes of its launch.

Read more on CNN by Hilary Whiteman