NASA will host a news teleconference at 1 p.m. EST (18:00 UTC), Wednesday, Feb. 26, to announce new discoveries made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope.Briefing participants:-- Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist, NASAs Astrophysics Division in Washington-- Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist, NASAs Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.-- Jason Rowe, research scientist, SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif.-- Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.Launched in March 2009, Kepler was the first NASA mission to find Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone -- the range of distance from a star in which the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might sustain liquid water. The telescope has since detected planets and planet candidates spanning a wide range of sizes and orbital distances. These findings have led to a better understanding of our place in the galaxy.For dial-in information, media should e-mail their name, affiliation and telephone number to J.D. Harrington atj.d.harrington@nasa.govno later than 12 noon EST, Wednesday.The public is invited to listen to the teleconference live via UStream:http://www.ustream.tv/nasa-arcQuestions can be submitted on Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA.Audio of the teleconference also will be streamed live:http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudioA link to relevant graphics will be posted at the start of the teleconference on NASAs Kepler site:http://www.nasa.gov/keplerContacts:J.D. HarringtonNASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.+1 202-358-5241j.d.harrington@nasa.govMichele JohnsonAmes Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.+1 650-604-6982michele.johnson@nasa.gov

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NASA Media Telecon to Announce Latest Kepler Discoveries, 26 Feb.