The talk will explore the motivations behind the Kepler mission and the scientific landscape related to exoplanets at that time. Aspects of development trades due to cost and schedule and lessons learned along the way will be mentioned. The transition from Kepler to K2 both in terms of operations and scientific rationale will be discussed as well. The many scientific results from these missions for exoplanets, astrophysics, and solar system science will be highlighted with the major and the more interesting of them examined.