Posted on 08/14/2005 2:59:00 PM PDT by Lessismore
huh?
bnelson44 is mistaken that we can't do this. I was just including you in the reply. Sorry for the confusion.
And for bnelson44, I apologize if I came off as a smarta$$, I didn't mean to offend, and I am sure I did so.
Another Atlas launch, to Pluto this time coming up, SpaceflightNow.com:
New Horizons will be launched aboard an Atlas 5 "551" vehicle, with a bulbous five-meter payload shroud built by the Swiss contractor Contraves, five Aerojet-built solid rocket boosters, another single-engine Centaur, and a Star 48B third stage. The rocket will send the probe on a speedy trajectory past the Moon within nine hours and on to a Jupiter flyby in late February 2007. Pluto arrival will be in about 2015.
The 1,025-pound spacecraft is currently sitting in a vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where it is undergoing tests before being shipped to Kennedy Space Center to begin launch preparations.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.