OTD In Space – January 19: New Horizons Launched
- 3 months ago
On January 19, 2006, NASA launched a spacecraft to Pluto!
New Horizons is a spacecraft about the size of a grand piano, and it became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. It launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas FIVE rocket and was the fastest spacecraft ever launched. The trip to Pluto took nine years, and it was worth the wait. New Horizons took the first close-up pictures of Pluto, and for the first time, the world saw that Pluto has an enormous heart. It also saw huge, steep mountains and icy volcanoes. After the flyby, New Horizons set sail for a distant icy rock called MU69.
New Horizons is a spacecraft about the size of a grand piano, and it became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. It launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas FIVE rocket and was the fastest spacecraft ever launched. The trip to Pluto took nine years, and it was worth the wait. New Horizons took the first close-up pictures of Pluto, and for the first time, the world saw that Pluto has an enormous heart. It also saw huge, steep mountains and icy volcanoes. After the flyby, New Horizons set sail for a distant icy rock called MU69.