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| The artistic concept shows NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft operating in a new mission profile called K2. Using publicly available data, astronomers may have confirmed K2's first discovery of star with more than one planet. Image Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle |
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Climate Change, Exoplanets, Kepler Telescope, Planetary Science, Space Exploration
There's an announcement coming out today at 12 noon EST. True to form, IFLS and Hopes and Fears have given their usual breathless hyperbole. I don't know if it's "another Earth," or even if it matters. Since our fastest propulsion gets us to Pluto in ~ nine years, we currently don't have a spare hyper/warp drive to get us there in current human lifespans, though Monday's post is a good step in the interplanetary direction. Climate change is a slow-mo existential train wreck, and despite warnings by the Pentagon no less, we can't seem to get our leaders to act on: I fear we're already out of options. I don't plan to be here in fifty years when Greenland's ice sheet disappears, and Florida's coasts are under water. Neither of our presidential candidates, some of whom and their constituents are apparently willing to debate the Pope, but not science publicly. I'd rather, take care of the planet we're on as the expense would bankrupt the global economy; such an enterprise (pun intended) would take generations, not weeks.
NASA will host a news teleconference at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT) Thursday, July 23, to announce new discoveries made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope.
The first exoplanet orbiting another star like our sun was discovered in 1995. Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just 21 years ago. Today, and thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamed about for thousands of years -- another Earth.
The teleconference audio and visuals will be streamed live at:
JPL: NASA Hosts Media Telecon About Latest Kepler Discoveries
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