Kepler in my own back yard -- or nearly

[ankh_hpl]

Did not realize until listening to our local NPR station this morning that the Kepler space telescope was being controlled by students at CU Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

I am not an alumna of CU, but the idea of the planet hunter extraordinaire being guided from a location about half an hour from my home gives me a geeky little thrill.

You can see the Star Trek-like control center & listen to the whole story here.