The quest to find more Earth-like exoplanets can really start rolling with this new probe sent up by NASA today. Currently there are around 300 discovered worlds according to AstronomyCast but they’re all crappy candidates for exploration because they’re gas giants in the same vein as Jupiter (hot) or Neptune (freezing).
Fingers crossed that something awesome is found during the three-year mission for Kepler. Now if we can prove contemporary Physics wrong with the development of FTL interstellar travel.
More about Kepler courtesy of NASA’s site.