Yesterday, a NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) unmanned probe was launched into space for a 9-year journey to Pluto, the last unexplored planet in the Solar System.
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The Atlas V rocket will carry the New Horizons probe to Pluto on a mission lasting 9 years |
Scientists hope to learn more about this frigid planet and its largest moon, Charon, as well as two other recently discovered moons.
The $700 million New Horizons probe will also study the Kuiper Belt, a mysterious region of the Solar System believed to hold thousands of comets and other icy objects. This research may provide clues about the formation of planets.
“New Horizons will explore this strange world, and we can imagine what we might learn from it. This is the first probe in a series of scientific missions aimed at exploring the universe,” said Mary Cleave, Assistant Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
New Horizons was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket, traveling at 36,000 miles per hour, the fastest of any probe ever launched. It will reach Earth’s moon in about 9 hours and arrive at Jupiter within 13 months.
Pluto is the only planet discovered by Americans, although some astronomers still question whether Pluto should be classified as a planet. It is an extraordinarily cold object, unlike the rocky planets such as Venus, Mercury, Earth, and Mars, and the gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. NASA has sent probes to these planets, except for Pluto.
