New planet found in hunt for earth's twin

A planet within the "habitable zone" of a star has been discovered. Named Kepler-22b, it has a radius that is roughly 2.4 times that of earth and is positioned in a 290-day orbit of a star, which means water - and possibly life - could exist on its surface. Scientists have yet to explore the planet's surface to find it is made of rock, liquid or gas. Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scienists at NASA, called the discovery "a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin." The Kepler mission has found more than 1,000 new potential planets, ten of which are near earth size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star.