Kepler’s lift-off lit up the night sky at its launch site in Florida (Image: NASA TV) Is there another Earth out there? (Image: Eckhard Slawik/SPL)

Video: The Kepler mission should help reveal how rare Earth is in our galaxy (Courtesy of NASA)

Update: NASA’s Kepler mission successfully blasted off on Friday, 6 March aboard a Delta II rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 2250 EST (0350 GMT on Saturday). About an hour later, the spacecraft separated completely from its launcher as planned, detaching from the rocket’s third stage.

HOW common are alien Earths – small, rocky …