I was a little surprised to hear that we are sending a vehicle to the
planet Pluto in a few days. I'm also surprised that it's supposed to reach
Pluto in almost ten years - as early as 2015.

Now, I know Pluto is way way way out there from the Earth. Doesn't it
take like eight minutes for sunlight to reach Pluto? I thought sending
something to Pluto would take hundreds of years, not one decade.

So, what do you think? Pluto is supposed to be made of mostly ice isn't
it? Some people don't even consider Pluto a real planet, right? You think
it's worth sending something way out there to Pluto?

Also, New Horizons will be traveling at super fast speeds. You think it
would be possible to have a space craft with astronauts go as fast as New
Horizons will go?

I kind of find this interesting - first we have the new NASA space
vehicle that's eventually supposed to go to Mars. Now we are sending a
vehicle to the farthest away planet Pluto in only ten years.

It sounds like real travel in our solar system is starting to take seed.
When will we reach Mars? Fifty years? If we can reach Mars and back and
also send something to Pluto in only ten years then doesn't that make travel
to Jupiter and Saturn a real possibility? Say we go to Mars in fifty years.
When would Jupiter and Saturn be possible? 150 to 200 years from now?

Sounds like the second space age could be starting. What do you think?