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Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper
Explanation:
Destination: Pluto.
The New Horizons spacecraft roared off its launch pad at
Cape Canaveral in
Florida,
USA in 2006 toward adventures in the distant
Solar System.
The craft is the
fastest
spaceships ever
launched by humans, having passed
the Moon only nine hours after launch, and
Jupiter only a year later.
After spending almost a decade crossing the Solar System,
New Horizons
will fly past
Pluto on Tuesday.
Pluto, officially a
planet when New Horizons launched,
has never been visited by a spacecraft or photographed up close.
After Pluto,
the robot spaceship will visit one or more
Kuiper Belt Objects orbiting the Sun even further out than Pluto.
Pictured,
the New Horizons craft launches into
space atop a powerful
Atlas V rocket.
Pluto flyby updates: #PlutoFlyby,
Twitter,
Facebook,
Web
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: launch - Pluto
Publications with words: launch - Pluto
See also: