New Horizons

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is 15.96 astronomical units (about 2.39 billion kilometers, or 1.48 billion miles) from the Sun putting it halfway between Earth's location on launch day in January 2006, and Pluto's place during New Horizons' encounter with the planet in July 2015. This is rare territory; New Horizons is just the fifth probe, after Pioneers 10 - 11 and Voyagers 1 - 2, to traverse interplanetary space so far from the Sun. And it's the first to travel so far to reach a new planet for exploration.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Pluto
• Kuiper
• Belt
• Jupiter
• Charon

[verdunburnett]

I love science of course, I just wish I knew more about the purpose of these types of missions... I mean what does it matter what Pluto is made out of... Again don't get me wrong, I love the science and excitement of it all - but a space elevator could be achieved with 10 billion in cost plus half that in R&D and once you have that built you can go into space for less that you can go to Jersey - we should make all of that stuff happen.

[adri1430]

@AugustusAurelianus Querido amigo! Muchas gracias por la información! Confieso que adoraría poder hacer ese viaje! :-)

[AugustusAurelianus]

This is an amazing, worthwhile endeavor, which I have been keeping track since launch.

This spacecraft represents the epitome of humankind's technological achievements, thereby providing this small, extremely fast probe with more than sufficient ground for the entire Human Race to be collective proud of it.

[Neobloodzero86]

what weak tech we humans have cant even send a human filled ship to other planets

[rochelimit55555]

That's not the little red spot . . . that's the great one no?