Dec 18, 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: M11-254

NASA'S KEPLER ANNOUNCING NEWLY CONFIRMED PLANETS

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news teleconference at 1 p m EST, Tuesday, Dec 20, announcing new discoveries by the Kepler mission

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 Although additional observations will be needed to reach that milestone, 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 participants are:

-- Nick Gautier, Kepler project scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif -- Francois Fressin, lead author, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass -- David Charbonneau, professor of astronomy, Harvard University -- Linda Elkins-Tanton, director of the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington

For dial-in information, media representatives should e-mail their name, affiliation and telephone number to Trent Perrotto at: trent j perrotto@nasa gov

For live audio of the teleconference, visit:

http://www nasa gov/newsaudio NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif , manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis JPL managed the Kepler mission's development

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

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

For information about the Kepler Mission, visit:

http://www nasa gov/kepler

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