MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun.

Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system.

"In one generation we have gone from extraterrestrial planets being a mainstay of science fiction, to the present, where Kepler has helped turn science fiction into today's reality," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "These discoveries underscore the importance of NASA's science missions, which consistently increase understanding of our place in the cosmos."

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system.

Kepler's ultra-precise photometer measures the tiny decrease in a star's brightness that occurs when a planet crosses in front of it. The size of the planet can be derived from these periodic dips in brightness. The distance between the planet and the star is calculated by measuring the time between successive dips as the planet orbits the star.

"The discovery of Kepler 10-b is a significant milestone in the search for planets similar to our own," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Although this planet is not in the habitable zone, the exciting find showcases the kinds of discoveries made possible by the mission and the promise of many more to come," he said.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

A team of planet hunters from the University of California Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington has announced the discovery of a planet with three times the mass of Earth orbiting a nearby star at a distance that places it squarely in the middle of the star's "habitable zone."

To read the report from NASA, go to:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/gliese_581_feature.html

And for more on this discovery, see:

Could 'Goldilocks' Planet Be Just Right For Life?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130221270

and

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/581g-goldilocks-planet-co_n_744635.html

To learn more, see: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

To see it, go to-

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/first-alien-planet-photographed-confirmed-100629.html

and

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/06/30/another-direct-picture-of-a-planet-orbiting-an-alien-star-confirmed/

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Kepler Mission has released 43 days of science data on more than 156,000 stars being monitored in the search for Earth-like planets outside of our solar system.

The Kepler space observatory satellite looks for the data signatures of planets by measuring tiny decreases in the brightness of stars when planets cross in front of them.

"The Kepler observations will tell us whether there are many stars with planets that could harbor life, or whether we might be alone in our galaxy," said William Borucki, mission science principal investigator at Ames.

To see the science data, visit:

http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler