i hate internet explorer.

so yeah..this is about the 4th time i've tried to post this. thank you very much, internet explorer..i really do love you.



According to The New York Times, as of yesterday (January 19) the first mission to Pluto was enacted by NASA. The spacecraft will travel to Jupiter at first, and then continue on its way to Pluto. It will take thirteen months to reach Jupiter, where it will explore the moons and atmosphere. Additionally, eight years from now (if all goes well) the spacecraft will reach Pluto, where it will collect artifacts and allow scientists to understand more about the planet.

Warren E. Leary states:

Yesterday's liftoff also paid homage to Pluto's discoverer, the astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, who in 1930 became the only American to find a planet in the solar system. (He died at 90, in 1997.) His widow, Patricia Tombaugh, 93, and other family members were present at the cape, and some of his remains were among the commemorative items aboard the spacecraft.

According to Wikipedia,

The first probe to explore the outer planets was Pioneer 10, which flew by Jupiter in 1973. Pioneer 11 was the first to visit Saturn, in 1979. The Voyager probes performed a grand tour of the outer planets following their launch in 1977, with both probes passing Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980–1981. Voyager 2 then went on to make close approaches to Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. The Voyager probes are now far beyond Pluto's orbit, and astronomers anticipate that they will encounter the heliopause which defines the outer edge of the solar system in the next few years.

This is the first time that Pluto is attempted to be explored. Is it beneficial to us? Nope, but at least it's news.