NASA to Announce Kepler Discovery at Media Briefing

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Sep 13, 2011, 04:01 ET

Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 11 a.m. PDT, Sept. 15

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a news briefing at 11 a.m. PDT, Thursday, Sept. 15, to announce a new discovery by the Kepler mission. The briefing will be held in the Syvertson auditorium, building N-201, at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The event will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

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Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist on the surface of the orbiting planet. Although additional observations will be needed to achieve that milestone, Kepler is detecting planets and planet candidates with a wide range of sizes and orbital distances to help us better understand our place in the galaxy.

A representative from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a division of Lucasfilm Ltd., will join a panel of scientists to discuss the discovery. The briefing participants are:
--Charlie Sobeck, Kepler deputy project manager, Ames Research Center
--Nick Gautier, Kepler project scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
--Laurance Doyle, lead author, SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif.
--John Knoll, visual effects supervisor, ILM, San Francisco.
--Greg Laughlin, professor for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, University of California, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Reporters can attend in person or dial-in for the briefing. To register or to obtain dial-in information, contact Michele Johnson at 650-604-4789 or [email protected] by 4:30 p.m. PDT, Wednesday, Sept. 14. To reach Ames, take U.S. Highway 101 to the Moffett Field, NASA Parkway exit and drive east toward the main gate. News media representatives must obtain a badge at the Visitor Badge Office, located at the main gate.

For more information about the Kepler mission and to view the digital press kit, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

SOURCE NASA