On January 17, NASA is launching the 1,043 pound probe called New Horizons to Pluto. It is supposed to be a 10 year trip to reach Pluto. They are giving five rockets for power that if they were used to travel to the moon it would take about nine hours. They want the probe to reach Pluto as fast as it can. It is also equipped with plutonium pellets to help it through the radioactive areas. They need to get it launched though before February 2 though. In 2007 when the probe passes Jupiter they can swing around it using it's gravity to pick up speed but if that doesn't happen it could lengthen the trip by a whole three years. New Horizons will be traveling too fast to actually stay around Pluto so they will have it start from five months away and continue studying the planet and it's moons until one month after it passes it. Then it will continue on to study more objects. This is really cool and I can't wait to see this happen. Pluto can tell us a lot about the solar system and as it turns out scientists have discovered areas like Pluto a lot farther away. This could be a very successful mission in giving us information about what is out there and the history of the solar system and the universe. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well.

I found this article here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051216/ts_nm/...;_ylt=AkoM9NANH
iXRJdHeP05CdzKHgsgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

Sorry had to cut it because it would stretch the forums if I didn't

Awesome Plenoptic. Nice find! Ten years! Wow! That is a long time. Those must be some rockets to get it all the way to Pluto so soon and to have enough power to get it to the moon so soon. I mean nine hours? That is as simple as going across the Pacific, but you could get all the way to the moon. But it does put it in perspective having to travel 10 years but till go to the moon in nine hours. Think if it was the shuttle. That would take forever! Of course, it will probably have problems galore and delay a long time if it even makes it Well hey, nice find and thanks for the topic.

Wow.. that's GodSpeed.. Travelling that distance is certainly a challenge.. I wonder if the signals are still strong communicating from the probe back to earth.. If it is, than probably, if aliens exist, they would have received earthling signals too.. And to them, our signals are their alien signals. But anyway, that is something that I thought it wouldn't happen.. Probably possible with a high beam laser or something that can calculate stuffs to far distance, but not a probe that goes to pluto.. Pluto is the last planet on the solar system.. And I wonder if it would ever get there.. Because there is a line of comet belt across Jupitar or somewhere near (I forgotten exactly where) that can smash anything that crosses it (I've read somewhere too).. Even if it gets through, some aliens that probably exist may destroy it, for an alien craft to them as well.. No one knows what's beyond.. So definately this experiment can show alot of earthling adventures beyond earth..

Now that's something you don't see everyday.
I can't wait for it to launch/land. It's gonna be exciting.
Although, somehow, it's not going to suprise me if the mission fails. Space is very unpredictable, especially that far out into the solar system.

Failure is always an option when travelling so far. Within those ten years it could very easilly get bumped by a piece of rock travelling thousands of miles per hour, or be caught in the pull of another large body and not escape. It's all too unpredictable. With any luck, though, it will make it.

We have gone through the belt before. The space shuttles, Voyager I and Voyager II have gone through that belt before. In fact they are somewhere deep in the galaxy (if anything is left of them) but they have sent pictures of all the other planets I think Pluto included. That wasn't their original job but scientists still had a signal longer then they needed so they took advantage of it. This time they are using more power for everything. It is going to be a tough mission especially because of it's length but hopefully they will make it. I don't think there are aliens out there because 1. We have gone out there before just not as far as Pluto 2. There can't be life out there if there is no place for them to live. Unless they have traveled over from another part of the galaxy with the greatest technology there are no aliens out there. The only possible planet that could have life that is not the Earth would be Mars and there hasn't been a sign of life quite yet. (except for water which is now ice)

That is great! I wonder what are they going to do eith the probe after it completes its mission. I've seen a few days ago on Discovery Channel a documentary about a mission to the comet Eros and after the mission was succesful they managed to land the probe even if it wasn't designed to land. They didn't land it actualy... it was more of a crash landing . But it was first time something landed on a comet.
By the way, does anyone have any ideea what happened with those probes NASA sent ot Mars... Pathfinder and Spirit. Did they return (where they suppose to return?!?). Did they discover any evidence of water (life) on Mars?

Aliens!? Quite the imagination there you have inspiron I suppose it could crash into the asteroid belt, but I doubt it. I read that Nasa tracks things orbiting the earth as small as a football. But then you have to take into account the fact that a paint fleck traveling at 17,000 miles per hour could crack the space shuttle if it hit it. No really, for real. I was reading this. Seems dangerous. Remember that only about half of the missions they launch are ever successful. Not that this one won't be, but all that money to see a planet that is way out there?! Where's the sense in that? Oh well, at least it is interesting to know what is out there.