August 2, 2005

	The Spanish site is updated regularly and includes a database of new planets.

(PLANETQUEST) -- Spanish-speaking space aficionados can track the latest news in the hunt for planets around other stars, thanks to a new NASA website.

The Spanish language site, at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/espanol/ , features information about NASA missions designed to find extrasolar planets, meaning those that orbit other stars. The ultimate goal is to find earthlike planets, which are considered more likely to host some type of life. So far, more than 150 planets have been discovered beyond our solar system.

The site includes explanations of the science and technologies involved in the search, as well as images and artists' concepts. As new planets are discovered, they will be added in Spanish to the site's Atlas de Nuevos Mondos.

NASA's planet-hunting missions include the current Keck Interferometer on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and such future missions as SIM PlanetQuest and Terrestrial Planet Finder.

The website was developed by PlanetQuest, which encompasses the planet-finding missions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Translation services were provided by the non-profit group Astroseti.org.