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A pull toward Pluto
Washington TimesA pull toward Pluto ^ | Sunday, July 21, 2002 | Charles Rousseaux

Posted on 07/21/2002 12:29:54 AM PDT by JohnHuang2

Edited on 07/12/2004 3:55:49 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

At the outset, it seems an expensive, slightly spacey idea: Sending a several hundred million dollar spacecraft several billion miles on a one-way exploratory journey to several small icy bodies simply for curiosity's sake.

That's what NASA scientists hope to do if Congress sees fit to supply the $488 million or so necessary to send an unmanned probe 3,700,000,000 odd miles to the planet Pluto, its moon Charon, and the icy Kuiper Belt at the extreme edge of the solar system. No one has ever had a close view of those orbiting icicles, and their small size coupled with their extreme distance makes even the Hubble Space Telescope myopic.


(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: space
Sunday, July 21, 2002

Quote of the Day by finnman69

1 posted on 07/21/2002 12:29:54 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
This guy used the phrase "Plutonic dreams" four times, which I think is way too many for an article of this size.
2 posted on 07/21/2002 1:35:48 AM PDT by billybudd
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To: JohnHuang2
Plutonic dreams...

3 posted on 07/21/2002 7:52:16 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
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To: JohnHuang2
if Congress sees fit to supply the $488 million or so necessary to send an unmanned probe 3,700,000,000 odd miles to the planet Pluto

I'm happy to see someone still considers Pluto to be a planet.

The Hayden Planetarium said Pluto is NOT a planet.

Pluto: The Planet That Used to Be Already, the Rose Center for Earth and Space, which is part of the American Museum of Natural History, appears to have rescinded Pluto's planethood. In its Hayden Planetarium, the Rose Center displays photos of the other eight planets but neglects to mention Pluto.

4 posted on 07/21/2002 7:56:20 AM PDT by syriacus
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To: *Space
Index Bump
5 posted on 07/21/2002 9:10:35 AM PDT by Free the USA
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