 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 26, 2010 Another milestone passed! Today 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. "From here on out, we're on approach to an encounter with the Pluto system," says New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, from the Southwest Research Institute. "The second half of the journey begins." 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. Humming along at more than 16 kilometers per second - more than 36,600 miles per hour - the spacecraft will next cross a planetary boundary in March 2011, when it passes the orbit of Uranus. Follow the journey.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links New Horizons The million outer planets of a star called Sol
Blushing Pluto? Dwarf planet takes on a ruddier hue: NASAWashington (AFP) Feb 4, 2010 Pluto, the dwarf planet on the outer edge of our solar system, has a dramatically ruddier hue than it did just a few years ago, NASA scientists said Thursday, after examining photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. They said the distant orb appears mottled and molasses-colored in recent pictures, with a markedly redder tone that most likely is the result of surface ice melting on Pluto's ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook