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New Horizons to Pluto



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 10th 06, 04:34 AM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto



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?


  #2  
Old January 10th 06, 05:01 AM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto


"Von Fourche" wrote in message
nk.net...
What do you think?


I think it's painfully obvious you just won't take the hint and do some
homework before posting.


  #3  
Old January 10th 06, 05:57 AM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto

"Von Fourche" wrote in
nk.net:



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?


No, that's Earth. Sunlight takes 4-5 hours to reach Pluto.

I thought
sending something to Pluto would take hundreds of years, not one
decade.


Pluto is currently near perihelion, and about as close to the sun as
Neptune. Voyager 2 reached Neptune in 12 years, using multiple gravity
assists. New Horizons will only use one gravity assist, but it's a much
lighter spacecraft than Voyager and so its launch vehicle can send it
much faster.

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?


Regardless of whether Pluto remains a "planet" (an arbitrary term
anyway), it's one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt objects and its
surface has probably remained mostly unchanged since the birth of the
solar system. It has a thin atmosphere that will freeze out soon as it
moves further from the sun, so now is a good time to visit.

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?


New Horizons weighs less than 1,000 lb. It's a lot easier to launch a
tiny spacecraft at high speeds than a big one.

It sounds like real travel in our solar system is starting to take
seed.
When will we reach Mars? Fifty years?


I assume you mean manned - we have robotic spacecraft on Mars now. Under
the current program, more like thirty years, assuming the political will
behind the program can be sustained that long (unlikely, unfortunately).

--
JRF

Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail,
check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and
think one step ahead of IBM.
  #4  
Old January 10th 06, 06:37 AM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:01:13 -0500, Scott Hedrick wrote:

trolling snipped

I think it's painfully obvious you just won't take the hint


I think he already knows the answers...
to yanking the groups' chains.

--
Chuck Stewart
"Anime-style catgirls: Threat? Menace? Or just studying algebra?"

  #5  
Old January 10th 06, 07:24 AM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 05:37:56 GMT, Chuck Stewart
wrote:

I think he already knows the answers...
to yanking the groups' chains.


....Which says to me that he - and probably most of the little trolling
*******s we've had the past month or two - knows exactly how stupid
his questions are, and has asked them knowing full well we'll get
****ed and hand him his head.

OM
--
]=====================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=====================================[
  #6  
Old January 10th 06, 02:12 PM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto

New Horizons will arrive at Pluto in about five years, not ten.

RM

  #7  
Old January 10th 06, 03:35 PM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto



Chuck Stewart wrote:




I think it's painfully obvious you just won't take the hint



I think he already knows the answers...
to yanking the groups' chains.



That's the impression I got also. At first I thought he was a kid, but I
think he is just playing dumb.

Pat

  #8  
Old January 10th 06, 06:35 PM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto



"Von Douche" wrote in message
nk.net...

What do you think?




I think it's sad that you had to get a new email address in order to escape
the killfiles everyone has been adding you to.

plonk



  #9  
Old January 10th 06, 07:51 PM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto


"Ron Miller" wrote in message
oups.com...
New Horizons will arrive at Pluto in about five years, not ten.



Only five? Why haven't they launched something like this in the past?
I thought Pluto was just too far out there for the space industry to study
so they didn't bother sending anything out there. Guess not.


  #10  
Old January 10th 06, 08:32 PM posted to sci.space.history
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Default New Horizons to Pluto


"Jorge R. Frank" wrote in message
...
Regardless of whether Pluto remains a "planet"


It's a planet. However, any definition that includes Pluto also must include
Sedna. So we now have ten known planets.


 




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