Wednesday, September 06, 2006

New Horizons Spacecraft on Target for Pluto


Now that Pluto has been declared no longer a planet, NASA's New Horizon is on course for an encounter with Pluto in 2015.

Launched in Jnauary of this year atop an Atlas Rocket it will swing past Jupiter next February where Jupiter's gravity will accelerate it for the cruise to Pluto.

The last instrument to be tested was the high resolution telescopic camera and it came through perfectly.

All the instruments have now been shown to work properly so the craft will check in once a week to report its status until it reaches Pluto.

It is hoped that it will yield much information about our distant ex-planet and possibly go on to explore the Kuiper Belt from which many of our comets originate.

CNN has more information, and you can watch the launch.

2 comments:

  1. I'm, like, so seriously chuffed that they dared kick Pluto out. Who do they think they are!!!

    And, worse, how dare they try to hone in on Planet X!!! My own secret home! Sheesh! Will the insults never cease?

    ReplyDelete