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curiousuburb
Antimatter Man
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
 
2006-01-04, 13:39



With pre-launch press conferences scheduled for January 15th (see web site via image above) and a launch window opening January 17th, 2006, the "last planet*" in our system and the "planetoids" beyond it in the Kuiper Belt are due for a robotic visit.

This long delayed "New Horizons" mission has been bumped back a few times, and almost cancelled at least once, but looks set to ride it's candle into the cold within the next two weeks.

The Mecury (Messenger) probe is already en route, and the ESA's Venus Express probe is about 3.5 months from arrival in the hot zone (both with Official Threads™ pending), so all that remains of the major spheres are the outer orbiting ice/rock balls.

Pluto and Charon, including the 2 new moons of Pluto recently discovered by Hubble <-- click for Realvideo link to full Jan 3/2006 press conference > (associated PDF files from the presentation are here and here), and possibly swings past Quoar and/or Sedna, plus other 'candidate planetoids'...

though you'll have to be patient for updates and groovy photos in this thread... won't get to Pluto until 2015... the mid Kuiper Belt by 2020.

Although with NASA putting stickers on their rides, they may be hoping to make them go faster.

* Disputes continue over what qualifies for 'planet' versus 'planetoid' versus 'moon'. Linkage available if desired.
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