Dec 1, 2011

Trent J Perrotto Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0321 trent j perrotto@nasa gov

Michele Johnson Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif 650-604-4789 michele johnson@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-243

NASA ANNOUNCING KEPLER DISCOVERIES AT SCIENCE CONFERENCE

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif -- NASA will host a news briefing at 8 a m PST, Monday, Dec 5, to announce new discoveries by the Kepler mission The briefing, during the Kepler Science Conference, will be in building 152 at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif

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 an orbiting planet Kepler is detecting planets and possible candidates with a wide range of sizes and orbital distances to help scientists better understand our place in the galaxy

The briefing will provide an update on the statistical findings since Kepler's Feb 1, 2011, science data release and introduce a new confirmed planetary discovery The briefing participants are:

-- Pete Worden, center director, Ames Research Center -- Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead at Ames -- Bill Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at Ames -- Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif

Following the news briefing, the inaugural Kepler Science Conference opens and runs from Dec 5 - 9 at Ames to highlight past scientific results

More than 90 presentations on exoplanet science and stellar astrophysics will highlight the conference Attendees will have an opportunity to hear more than 110 scientific presentations There is a welcoming reception planned for participants on Sunday, Dec 4, from 5 to 7 p m

News media planning to attend the news briefing or the conference must contact Michele Johnson at 650-604-4789 or michele johnson@nasa gov to register For news media unable to attend in person, a dial-in number will be provided The news briefing will not be streamed

Ames manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif , managed Kepler mission development

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp in Boulder, Colo , developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with JPL for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes the Kepler science data Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters

A live stream of the Kepler Science Conference will be available at:

http://connect arc nasa gov/kepler

For information about the Kepler Science Conference, visit:

http://kepler nasa gov/Science/ForScientists/keplerconference

For information about the Kepler Mission, visit:

http://www nasa gov/kepler

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