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Atlas 5 Rocket Set to Launch Pluto Probe

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the very-edge-of-the-suburbs dept.

tmerrill writes "An unprecedented mission to the outer edges of our solar system is set to launch in 4 days, despite a launch delay. From the article: 'NASA's first spacecraft to visit the planet Pluto is set to launch no earlier than Jan. 17 atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a decade-long trip to the fringe of the Solar System ... In order to reach Pluto by 2015, the $650 million New Horizons mission must lift off this month in order to swing by Jupiter for a gravity boost. The probe's 35-day launch window, however, stretches until Feb. 14. The launch window opens on Jan. 11. Inspections of the probe's Atlas 5 booster prompted mission managers to push their launch target to no earlier than Jan. 17, NASA officials said.'" The New York Times has details as well.

9 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. You call THAT a rocket, Gringo? by PoconoPCDoctor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While an impressive vehicle, it's size is dwarfed by the Saturn V.

    I called in sick to my job and flew down to Cape Kennedy to see the last launch of this monster. The last launch was used to put Skylab in orbit.

    I got no closer than about Titusville, (I think this was about 10 miles from the launch pad) but when that sucker was lifting off, I felt a sonic impact that felt like someone slammed my chest!

    --
    "Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair" - George Washington
  2. Re:Probe lucky to be. Race against time. by 99luftballon · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Nothing concentrates the mind like the thought of a useless mission. Missing this opportunity would be crime. The Pluto may also provide an opportunity to solve a question that's been vexing many; should Pluto even be counted as a planet or just a small body as part of the Kuiper belt.

  3. Re:Atlas V is a p*ssy rocket by flyingsquid · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Atlas V generates a peak 4 meganewton thrust. The old Saturn V(apollo booster) generated up to 35MN, and could deliver up to 120,000 pounds into low Earth orbit. Sigh... were the Moon landings a technological feat, never to be duplicated?

    The moon landings were primarily a result of a Cold War need to upstage the Soviets, and not some great fascination with technology and engineering on the part of the White House. Now that the USSR is history, there's no longer that same justification for moon shots or similar stunts.

    And who cares how big the rocket is? Apollo did make some important discoveries about the geology of the moon. But I think sending people back to the moon for a photo op is vastly less interesting than strapping a tiny rover atop of a small booster and sending it to look for life on Mars. These modest, unmanned missions are where all the real science is.

  4. Why Pluto? by jcaldwel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Shouldn't we be spending our limited budget on something more interesting, like Europa, Ganymede or Titan? They should be easier to get to, from their distance.

    1. Re:Why Pluto? by SB5 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Those moons would be nice, but Pluto is at an ideal distance. That and the fact that in space distance matters squat, if you travel 100 million miles at 20,000 miles per hour, according to what I know of basic physics without ever taking a physics class is that the probe 100 million miles later will still be travelling 20,000 miles per hour. Europa, Ganymede and Titan, we can get to probably in a shorter time but missions for those are probably on the drawing board with the problems we have learned from visiting Mars.

      But I am not a rocket scientist, and I don't think you are either. All the planets in the solar system are pretty damn interesting if you look at each one individually.

      --
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  5. $650M to go to Pluto? by Robert+Heinich · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can anyone provide what the costs of other probes have been? (Even know the cost of putting up a weather satellite would help.) The New Horizon probe is costing $634,146 a pound which seems to me a tad expensive.

  6. Re:Atlas V is a p*ssy rocket by 4D6963 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Mod parent up

    It is to be regretted that 40 years ago we had a rocket more powerful than any of the ones we got now. Actually I've been quite surprised to hear that we had nothing as powerful as a Saturn V, it's like, going technologically backwards, although if you look at the problem from close, we were lucky not to have any problem with Saturn V's and the context was much different (and allowed such gigantic rockets to be invested in).

    And yeah as you said, big rockets like Saturn V ain't all about manned missions, they could be about sending much bigger probes. Who knows, if we had tried to develop really more powerful rockets, maybe we could have sent a probe to Pluto with some much energy in it to slow down enough to get in orbit around Pluto, but you can imagine anything that you could send to space with bigger rockets.

    Btw, as for Bush's plan to return to the Moon, are we going to have to make rockets as powerful as the Saturn V?

    --
    You just got troll'd!
  7. Outer Solar system exploration by lobotomir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apart from being a part of the nuclear spring, is it possible that this particular New Horizons mission gets funding in order to gather information about the Pioneer anomaly?

  8. Re:Atlas V is a p*ssy rocket by corngrower · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From what I understand, you are correct. The Atlas is very lightwieght for the amount of payload it sends up. This is because the design is based on the fact that a pressurized pop can can support far more weight than an unpressurized pop can. The fuel & oxidizer tanks of the Atlas are pressurized, allowing the booster to be very light weight but still be able to support a substantial payload. Saturn V didn't use this design.