Elisa Quintana head shot

Elisa Quintana

Kepler Mission Research Scientist, SETI Institute

Elisa Quintana is a Kepler Mission Research Scientist at the SETI Institute. She works on flight data calibration and planetary candidate validation, and is a member of the Kepler Data Analysis Working Group. She is also a research scientist in the Space Sciences and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames, where she studies the formation, dynamical stability, and habitability of extrasolar planetary systems.

Latest Planetary Radio Appearances

Elisa Quintana on the Discovery of Earth 2.0

Kepler-186f is the very first exoplanet that is both the size of our own world and in the habitable zone surrounding its star. SETI Institute scientist Elisa Quintana is lead author of the paper announcing its existence.

A Second Earth, and OSIRIS REx is Go for Asteroid Bennu

Finally found: an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone. You’ll hear lead scientist Elisa Quintana make the announcement. Then OSIRIS REx mission Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta will tell us how the spacecraft will return a sample of material from the birth of the solar system.