The media and internet have been set abuzz as NASA announced today its plans to reveal information regarding an “Astrobiology Discovery” tomorrow at 2 p.m.  The vagueness of the press release has some speculating that it could be the first discovery of life outside of Earth, possibly on Saturn’s Moon, Titan.  Come back to Late Night Astronomy tomorrow for full coverage of the news conference.

NASA PRESS RELEASE:

MEDIA ADVISORY : M10-167

NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery; Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 p.m. EST On Dec. 2

WASHINGTON — NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency’s website at http://www.nasa.gov.

Participants are:
–     Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
–     Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
–     Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
–     Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla.
–     James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe

Media representatives may attend the conference or ask questions by phone or from participating NASA locations. To obtain dial-in information, journalists must send their name, affiliation and telephone number to Steve Cole at stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov or call 202-358-0918 by noon Dec. 2.

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

UPDATE-December 2, 2010
False Alarm!!!  No Aliens, at least not of the Extra terrestrial type.
Turns out the big announcement was a new bacteria found in an arsenic California lake.  This new finding is the first time scientist have discovered a life form that can live in a way different to all other types on Earth.  This drastic change in how we view life, means that there is now evidence that many different types of life can exist in many different forms throughout the universe.  As always, stay tuned to Late Night Astronomy, your number 1 source for all astrobioligcal news on the internets.