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Astrobiology: Latest News

2005-06-30 | MISSIONS
Two for the Price of One

In just over 6 months, the launch window for the New Horizons mission to Pluto will open. Currently, the craft is undergoing space-environment testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

New Horizons is designed to help us understand worlds at the edge of our Solar System by making the first reconnaissance of Pluto and Pluto's moon, Charon. Charon is actually large enough to be considered a dwarf planet in its own right were it in orbit around the Sun. The flybys of Pluto and Charon will followed by a visit to one or more objects in the Kuiper Belt region beyond Neptune. The objects in this region of the Solar System are ancient relics that formed over 4 billion years ago. Because they are literally the bodies out of which the larger planets accumulated, the objects have a great deal to teach us about planetary formation. Understanding how planets form can help scientists estimate the number of habitable environments in the Universe.

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Full text of original item from NASA, Jun 30, 2005

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