Off Toward Pluto
Off Toward Pluto, Spacecraft Gets Quick Start on 9-Year Journey
Today, for the first time, NASA launched a spacecraft on a nine year journey to Pluto, the outside of the solar system. At 2pm a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Three stages off the booster rocket worked within an hour and the rocket disappeared. The rocket in planned to move at 36,000 miles per hour, making it the fastest ever in history. It is expected to reach Jupiter in 13 months where it will get a speed boost toward Pluto. Once Pluto is reached, studies will be conducted for approximately 5 months. Two of Pluto's recently discovered moons will also but studied. Nearby coments and Pluto-like small plants will be studied to provide information and clues as to how Pluto was formed.
This event relates back to when man first landed on the moon in 1969. That marked the beginning of a whole new age of exploration. Man was able to leave the earth to study other bodies in the atmosphere. New technology was and is still constantly developing that enables us to learn more about what else is out there. Rather than observing from telescopes, we are able to get a closer and more accurate depiction of the planets, moons, stars and whatever else may be found in the universe.
Today, for the first time, NASA launched a spacecraft on a nine year journey to Pluto, the outside of the solar system. At 2pm a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Three stages off the booster rocket worked within an hour and the rocket disappeared. The rocket in planned to move at 36,000 miles per hour, making it the fastest ever in history. It is expected to reach Jupiter in 13 months where it will get a speed boost toward Pluto. Once Pluto is reached, studies will be conducted for approximately 5 months. Two of Pluto's recently discovered moons will also but studied. Nearby coments and Pluto-like small plants will be studied to provide information and clues as to how Pluto was formed.
This event relates back to when man first landed on the moon in 1969. That marked the beginning of a whole new age of exploration. Man was able to leave the earth to study other bodies in the atmosphere. New technology was and is still constantly developing that enables us to learn more about what else is out there. Rather than observing from telescopes, we are able to get a closer and more accurate depiction of the planets, moons, stars and whatever else may be found in the universe.
posted by Anonymous | 4:53 PM
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