Narrator: At a press conference held at NASA Ames Research Center,
the Kepler team announced the discovery of its first confirmed planet
in the "habitable zone" or the region around a star where liquid water
could exist on a planet's surface.
Named Kepler-22b, the planet is about 2.4 times the radius of the Earth
and orbits a sun-like star about 600 light years away
between the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra.
William Borucki: Well, certainly the thing that's most exciting to me is the fact,
that finally after looking at all these candidates, spending all this effort,
that we can confirm a planet, in the habitable zone, that's nearly Earth-size.
So, we're moving towards the goal of the mission: are Earths frequent or are they rare?
And this is a major step in that direction.
Narrator: Scientists don't know yet if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky,
gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.
The team has also discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates,
nearly doubling its previously known count.
Natalie Batalha: The Kepler team announced today 1,094 new planet candidates,
bringing the total roster up to 2,326.
Of those, 207 are Earth-size and we now have 48 that are in the habitable zone.
Ten of which are smaller than two Earth-radii.
So these are planets which potentially could be rocky.
So, it's an exciting milestone because we're really honing in on truly Earth-sized habitable planets.
Narrator: The announcement helped to kick off the beginning of the first-ever Kepler Science Conference.
Held at NASA Ames, the meeting provided an opportunity
for a large and diverse group of scientists to convene and review insights
they've discovered from the Kepler data.
Just days earlier, the Kepler mission celebrated 1,000 days of conducting science operations in space.
To honor the occasion, scientists and staff members held a reception,
 featuring a cake cutting and stories about the last 2-and-a-half years of data collection.
Famed astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson
also came to the event to help the team celebrate the milestone.
Neil deGrasse Tyson: It's great to see the energy and enthusiasm of the workforce for Kepler
matching the magnitude of the science that is coming out from the telescope itself.
The public hardly ever sees the workforce behind the mission, they just see the results
and they know there's a telescope out there, but they're hardworking people.
The engineers and scientists and managers and so it's great to see everybody here together, celebrating.
Narrator: Kepler is NASA's three-and-a-half year mission to search for Earth-size,
potentially habitable planets in our galaxy.
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