That wasn't the Kepler mission. Wasn't it MSL (Mars Science Laboratory == Curiosity rover)?

And it is very likely that MSL discoveries will change the textbooks. Unfortunately, the guy who made that announcement on the MSL team did not make clear that point. He learned the hard way, I suppose, how not to word a statement to the press.

Such is how things are sometimes. Scientists need to learn some media communication skills.


I suspect this will be a candidate Earth-like planet, something Kepler was designed to discover. Unfortunately, it takes multiple orbits to detect each planet. At an Earth-like distance that means three or four transits will likely be necessary. For Earth, that's three or four years, of course.

Who knows what this is? We'll see.