Send your name to Pluto

hatredman writes "NASA is preparing to send the New Horizons probe to Pluto. It will be the first earth device to get intimate with the icy planet. And you can be there too - or, at least, your name. NASA is asking everyone to send them their names, which will be attached in the space device. The New Horizons probe will be launched in January 2006 to explore Pluto and the Kuiper belt, in the outskirts of the Solar System. It is expected that the probe will return to earth in approximately 50 thousand years."

Comments

Re:Kinda depressing

[slavemowgli]

It's going to take a lot less than that to get there, actually. The reason why the trip back will take so long is that it's not actually needed - it just so *happens* that the probe will probably return after 50000 years, but noone's actually really interested in it doing so (not today, anyway).

Of course, the trip to Pluto is going to take a couple of years, but not that much - you're certainly going to see it in your lifetime. Well, assuming you don't die first (but that goes without saying). :)

Re:How will the probe come back?

[OverlordQ]

It's called an orbit . . .

here's the wikipedia article.

Unless it has enough energy to leave the system, anything launched will eventually (after a long enough time) to Earth.