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Pluto Plans Progress

Posted by michael on from the can't-kick-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth dept.

akiaki007 writes: "Here is an article on NYTimes (free reg.) that talks about the late discussions about how NASA is going to be spending their money. Looks like the decision to send a craft to Pluto has been made final. January 2006 has been set for the launch date. Pluto's atmosphere is expected to freeze around 2020, so this is the last chance to make any type of observations on the planet we will get until about 2200."

4 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. And we're going there why? by kippy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm a nerd, no doubt about that. I like space and science as much as the next guy but I'm also cheep. My question is this: Why spend our money on a Pluto probe when we could put it towards getting ourselves to Mars or the Moon?

    Has anyone thought of this from a cost/return perspective?

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    Blaze a trail to the New World
    1. Re:And we're going there why? by Mt._Honkey · · Score: 2, Informative

      We should spend the money on Pluto now for a couple of reasons. 1) It is the nearest Kuiper-belt like object, and the Kuiper-belt is quite likely the largest and most poorly understood part of our solar system. 2) If we don't act now to launch, rather than wait for cheaper space travel that should come in a few decades, then we will not get the chance to investigate it until 150 years from now or we devise much much much more powerful forms of space propulsion.

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      Don't Bogart the fish sticks
  2. Re:Travel Time and Technology by Mt._Honkey · · Score: 2, Informative

    They made no mention of propulsion at all, however they did say that they expected the trip to take about a decade. That is about right for a conventional rocket like the voyager probes. I too would love to see some new technology used. I am a physics student and am considering working in this field. Ion/plasma propulsion could easily cut down the travel time. However, the technology has not been thoroughly developed, so it would be much more expensive. I say that while it would be worth the cost, it is may be too much of a risk to test a new technology when we will only have this one chance.

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    Don't Bogart the fish sticks
  3. Gratuitous URL for New Horizons by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 2

    http://www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb/ will get you to the New Horizons mission website.