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Author: * Sokni Hvitaskald -
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Date: Jan 22, 2006 - 23:26
The first mission to distant planet Pluto is under way after the successful launch today of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
New Horizons roared into the afternoon sky aboard a powerful Atlas V rocket at 2 p.m. EST. It separated from its solid-fuel kick motor 44 minutes, 53 seconds after launch, and mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., where the spacecraft was designed and built, received the first radio signals from New Horizons a little more than five minutes later. The radio communications, sent through NASA's Deep Space Network antennas in Canberra, Australia, confirmed to controllers that the spacecraft was healthy and ready to begin initial operations.
"Today, NASA began an unprecedented journey of exploration to the ninth planet in the solar system," says Dr. Colleen Hartman, deputy associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. "Right now, what we know about Pluto could be written on the back of a postage stamp. After this mission, we'll be able to fill textbooks with new information."
For full story go to:
http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/new_horizons_launched.html?2112006
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New Horizons Blasts Off for Pluto (Sat, 21 Jan 2006)
The Star Arena
(1 threads, 533 posts)
Celestia-Interactive
(16 posts)
Yup, Caily
